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A CHANGING 

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Annual Retail 

Technology Outlook 

Spring 2008 

Investing in 

Customers 

POS Software 

Directory 

IP Communications 

Primer 

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Points 

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C O N T E N T S 

Spring 2008 

24 TEVA’S HIGH-TECH TOUCH POINT 

Internet connectivity and interactive media are making 

their way onto the retail sales floor, and Teva’s 

new touch-screen program is an early example for 

outdoor specialty. 

By Martin Vilaboy 

20 

12 

26 POS SOFTWARE DIRECTIONS & DIRECTORY 

POS software is handling more and more functions, 

from the back office all the way to the sales floor. 

Turn to our detailed POS software directory for help 

with any upgrade, replacement or migration strategies 

that might be in the works. 


Departments 

DATA POINTS 

8 NUMBERS WORTH NOTING 

Returns on returns; stimulus plans; mobile commerce; 

plus more 

GEar 

34 COOL GEAR, LUKEWARM OUTLOOK 

Heat up the camping market 

FEATURES 

24 

12 RETAIL ODYSSEY 2015 

In the coming retail landscape, the emphasis behind technology 

investment continually will shift away from its capability to 

increase operational efficiencies to becoming a key asset for 

customer acquisition, retention and business success. 


20 HEEDING THE CALL OF IP TELEPHONY 

Phone and data services typically aren’t a top-of-the-mind issue 

for specialty retailers, but new capabilities and cost savings 

made possible through IP-based communications are well 

worth hearing about. 


FLOOR SPACE 

38 GRAMICCI’S REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT 

A better buy plan 

BACK OFFICE 

40 ON THE RECORDS 

Keeping behind the corporate veil 

GREENSHEETS 

42 CARBON FOOTPRINT 101, PART II 

What to expect from an LCA 

46 THE GREEN GLOSSARY 

Think wikipedia for the eco-minded 

6 Letter from the Editor 

50 Advertiser Index 

4 | InsideOutdoor | Spring 2008

Editor’s Letter 

Technology and Tent Stakes 

“Challenges and opportunities:” those two words summarize the retail technology 

landscape as succinctly as any two words can. And in many ways, they also 

encapsulate the state of the outdoor industry. 

With the former, the big challenges for specialty retailers involve taking the final 

steps in the migration off of legacy systems and completing the long-coming shift 

to “next-generation“ platforms, namely digital and Internet technologies. That final 

leap will demand justifying new investments; retiring existing assets, some before 

the end of their natural lives; and supporting some level of IT functionality at every 

individual store front. 

Indeed, the Internet has democratized technology, so it’s no longer just the CIOs 

and IT staffs of large chains and high-dollar retailers that have to consider its implications. 

Just about everyone in the more mainstream segments of retail will need 

to leverage increasing levels of retail technology just to keep pace with the opex 

reductions and boost to customer relationship management that will be enjoyed by 

most contestants on the playing field. With that in mind, Inside Outdoor’s coverage 

of retail technology is not limited to this special annual issue. Rather, examining the 

ways that technology can help retailers operate more efficiently and touch customers 

more creatively will be regular points of emphasis in every coming issue. 

Likewise, outdoor is facing some shifts, as well. As in the tech sector, legacy 

revenue streams are being pushed by new and emerging opportunities. Since the 

Outdoor Industry Association began tracking participation rates in 1998, for instance, 

the most popular outdoor activities -- camping, hiking, biking, canoeing -- have experienced 

virtually no periods of sustained year-over-year growth. Yet outdoor retail sales 

somehow have managed to grow at rates that exceed the annual growth rates of the 

overall U.S. non-auto retail sector. That seems to suggest other sales drivers are at 

play, and they are not hard to find: fitness, competitive events, trail running, climbing 

gyms, sustainability, nutrition, Web services. 

Still, the sagging participation rates of primary activities should not be taken lightly. 

As far as we can see, getting current customers outside more often -- where 

they discover new needs and wear out old gear -- remains the most reliable force 

behind the sales of outdoor product. Some would suggest the outdoor lifestyle being 

pushed further into the mainstream or “outdoor as fashion” are trends that can 

make up for flat sales in core sports participation. We’re just not so sure relying on 

what are essentially trend-driven movements is the best long-term business strategy 

moving forward, particularly when the lifecycle of fashion and cultural trends seem to 

grow shorter and shorter, while consumers seem to grow increasingly fickle. Fitness 

enthusiasts, for their part, also can be rather fickle, with the endless litany of “new 

and better ways” to get fit. 

That’s certainly not to suggest that new opportunities shouldn’t be pursued and 

embraced. Quite the contrary, and the outdoor industry can be commended on its 

collective willingness and adaptability during the past several years when it comes to 

discovering and integrating new sources of revenues and customers. 

Rather, the point is that the outdoor industry cannot forget those customer bases 

and legacy activities that reside deep within its foundation. “Rip and replace,” after 

all, is even harder to do with customers than it is to do with technology platforms. 

Martin Vilaboy 

Editor-in-Chief 

martin@bekapublishing.com 

Percy Zamora 

Art Director 

outdoor@bekapublishing.com 

Ernest Shiwanov 

Editor at Large 

ernest@bekapublishing.com 

Editorial Contributors: 

R.J. Anderson 

Philip Josephson 

Berge Kaprelian 

Group Publisher 

berge@bekapublishing.com 

Jennifer Vilaboy 

Production Director 

jen@bekapublishing.com 

Suzanne Urash 

Ad Creative Designer 

suzanne@cre8groupinc.com 

Beka Publishing 

Berge Kaprelian 

President and CEO 

Philip Josephson 

General Counsel 

Jim Bankes 

Business Accounting 

Corporate Headquarters 

745 N. Gilbert Road 

Suite 124, PMB 303 

Gilbert, AZ 85234 

Voice: 480.503.0770 

Fax: 480.503.0990 

Email: berge@bekapublishing.com 

© 2008 Beka Publishing, All rights reserved. 

Reproduction in whole or in any form or 

medium without express written permission 

of Beka Publishing, is prohibited. Inside 

Outdoor and the Inside Outdoor logo are 

trademarks of Beka Publishing 

MV 


Data Points 

Numbers Worth Noting 

by Martin Vilaboy 

Returns and Retention 

Retailers, for good reasons, are not too fond of merchandise 

returns, but unfortunately shoppers are. According to an annual 

consumer returns survey commissioned by Newgistics, Inc. 

and conducted by Harris Interactive, nine out of 10 direct 

shoppers cited a convenient returns policy as very important, 

important or somewhat important to encouraging them to 

shop with a new or unknown online or catalog retailer. More 

than two-thirds said the ability to make a return from home was 

very important or important when deciding whether to shop 

with an online or catalog retailer. On the flip side, 82 percent 

of direct shoppers said they are not likely to shop again with a 

direct retailer if the return process is inconvenient. 

Very 

likely 

Somewhat 

likely 

Not very 

likely 

Not at all 

likely 

Don’t 

know 

Very 

likely 

Somewhat 

likely 

Not very 

likely 

Not at all 

likely 

Don’t 

know 

Likelihood of shopping again if returns 

are CONVENIENT 

3% 

3% 

2% 

Source: Newgistics 

2% 

6% 

10% 


20% 


are INCONVENIENT 

8 | InsideOutdoor | Spring 2008 

 

72% 

92% 

38% 

 

82% 

44% 

Stimulate This 

The National Retail Federation estimates the $42.9 billion 

will end up in retailers’ tills as a result of President Bush’s 

$168 billion dollar Economic Stimulus Plan, which will result 

in anywhere from $300 to $1,200 in the pockets of qualifying 

consumers. Retailers, however, appear less than confident 

about their chances of capitalizing on the opportunity. A good 

majority of retailers surveyed by Retail Systems Research said 

they will not be making adjusting this spring in order to capture 

any lift in spending. 

Money Left on the Table? 

Will your company be adjusting you current plans to capture 

additional revenue from the Economic Stimulus Plan? 

35% 65% 

Retail Formats with Below Average Sales Gr 

Are you planning to increase your inventory levels to meet 

increased demand from the Stimulus Plan? 

37% 63% 

10 

Will you be planning special promotions and events to 

capture additional sales from the 8.2% Stimulus Plan? 

8 

Yes 

No 

77% 23% 

Source: Retail Systems Research 6.5% 

5.9% 

5.5% 

6 

4.7% 4.7% 4.6% 4.9% 

Four Reviews Before Buying Online 4.4% 4.3% 4.2% 4.3% 

As much as 684 

3.5 

percent of online shoppers read at least 2.6% 

four reviews before making a purchase, according to data from 

2 

joint research by PowerReviews and the e-tailing group. The 

companies surveyed 1,200 consumers who shopped online at 

0 

least four times per year and spent at least $500 in aggregate 

and found that almost -2 a quarter of the respondents checked at 

least eight reviews or more before deciding to buy. 

Some 22 percent -4 of respondents said that they “always” 

read reviews before making a purchase, while more than four 


in 10 said they checked ratings and reviews “most of the time.” 

In contrast, just 2 percent of the online shoppers surveyed 

said that they “never” read reviews in advance. And a recent 

Avenue A|Razorfish study Non-auto found Retail that Sales 55 percent Growth of Around online the Glo 

shoppers chose user reviews most frequently when conducting 

product research — more Russia than double the 22 percent that used 

Nigeria 

comparison charts or expert reviews (21 percent). 

12.8% 

Turkey 

11.2% 

Indonesia 

10.6% 

Most Desired Features Vietnam on Retail Web Sites* 10.4% 

India 

Features 

% of Respondents Choosing 

10.4% 

Philippines 

9.7% 

User ratings and reviews Argentina 64% 

9.6% 

Special offers and couponsChina 

61% 

8.9% 

South Africa 

7.9% 

Videos Thailand 48% 

7.7% 

Personalization capabilities Mexico 37% 7.2% 

Malaysia 

7.1% 

Games and quizzes 29% 

Brazil 

6.6% 

Source: Forrester Research; Spain *Included consumer electronics, 6.0% travel and banking 

sites—key drivers of e-commerce Australiain the U.S. 

5.7% 

United States 

5.2% 

South Korea 

5.1% 

Canada 

4.7% 

Poland 

4.6% 

United Kingdom 

4.1%

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Very 

likely 

Somewhat 

likely 

Not very 

likely 

Not at all 

likely 

Don’t 

know 

Very 

likely 

Somewhat 

likely 

Not very 

likely 

Not at all 

likely 

Don’t 

know 

3% 

Worker Rights and Wrongs 

3% 

Employee costs have risen more than 30 percent in the last 

five years 2% according to American Business Research. At the 

same time, keeping good employees is as crucial as ever. The 

ABR survey, for example, reported that 69 percent of customers 

stop doing business with a company due to poor service from 


employees. What’s more, 96 percent of unhappy customers do 

not complain to the establishment but on average tell two other 

people about their unsatisfying experience. 

All the while, one in every 28.2 employees was apprehended 


for theft from their employer, says ABR, and just 4.6 percent of 


total retail theft losses resulted in a recovery. In other words, for 

every $1 recovered by companies, $20.76 was lost to retail theft. 

6% 

Internet 10% Accounts for 8% of 

Sports Gear Sales 

According to figures pulled together 38% by the National 

Sporting Goods Association, purchases of sports equipment 82% on 

the Internet have gone from 1.4 percent of 44% the total equipment 

market in 1999 to 8.1 percent in 2006. In dollars, that’s from $300 

million to 2% just less than $2 billion. Since 2000, this represents a 

166 percent increase in Internet sports equipment purchases. 

Purchases of sports equipment in all channels, by comparison, 

rose Source: 14 Newgistics percent in that same time period. 

Interestingly enough, NSGA figures show sales of 

sports gear over the Internet dipping slightly in 2006 

from 2005 figures, suggesting that the growth in 

e-commerce sales of sports gear may be leveling off. 

1999 

20% 

Data Points 

Sports Internet Sales 

10.0% 

9.0% 

8.0% 

7.0% 

6.0% 

5.0% 

4.0% 

3.0% 

2.0% 

1.0% 

0% 

Source: NSGA 

2000 

2001 

Equipment 

2002 

Footwear 

Linear (Equipment) 

Linear (Footwear) 

2003 

2004 

 

72% 

2005 

92% 

2006 

How Does Your VoIP Service Compare to Your Old Service 

(Among companies with 100 or fewer employees that have adopted VoIP) 


100 

10 

8 

6 

4 

2 

Malaysia 

Brazil 

Spain 

6.0% 

Anxiety about sharing personal data is the biggest barrier 

Australia 

5.7% 

to consumer United acceptance States of mobile banking 5.2% and commerce, 

with two-thirds South (66 Korea percent) of respondents 5.1% saying so, say 

Harris figures. 

Taiwan 

Service 

Italy 

France 2.9% 

Check bank account balance/transfer/funds 

Sweden 

35% 

2.8% 

Receive text message Germany alerts 2.2% 33% 

Mobile wallet Switzerland 1.3% 19% 

Shopping Japan 0.8% 16% 

Wire transfer 9% 

Stock trading 9% 

Other Source: OECD and TNS Retail Forward 3% 

None of the above 53% 

Source: Harris Interactive 

8.2% 

4.7% 

6.5% 

4.7% 

5.9% 

4.6% 4.9% 

4.4% 

5.5% 

Buying and Banking On-the-Go 

A new Harris Interactive study shows that one in four cell 

phone subscribers 0 with mobile Internet access now use their 

devices to buy goods and services online with a credit card, and 

nearly one in five -2say they would like to someday use cell phones 

as a “mobile wallet,” where charges would be billed directly 

to their mobile -4accounts. Consumers not currently banking or 

buying on-the-go expressed at least some interest in having such 


applications on their mobile phones, say Harris researchers. It 

should be noted, however, that among the more than 250 million 

mobile phone subscribers in the U.S., only about 30 to 40 million 

Non-auto Retail Sales Growth Around the Globe 

currently take a mobile data plan, and adoption rates of mobile 

Internet services have been a bit slower during the past few 

Russia 

years than the mobile carriers had hoped for. 

15.4 

Nigeria 

12.8% 

Turkey 

11.2% 

Frequency of Indonesia Making Purchases with Mobile Phones 10.6% 

(% of owners surveyed) 

Vietnam 

10.4% 

India 

10.4% 

Frequency 

Philippines 

Mobile Phone Smartphone 

9.7% 

Daily Argentina 1% 5% 9.6% 

Weekly China 1% 4% 8.9% 

Monthly 

South Africa 

4% 1% 7.9% 

Occasionally 

Thailand 

17% 25% 7.7% 

Mexico 

7.2% 


7.1% 

6.6% 

Canada 

4.7% 

Poland 

4.6% 


4.1% 

Interest in Banking, BelgiumCommerce 4.0% or Investment Apps 

for Mobile Device Netherlands 

3.6% 

3.6% 

3.0% 

Interest 

(% of respondents) 

4.3% 4.2% 4.3% 

Business Challenges Driving the Use 

More Minorities Shopping Online 

of Customer-Driven Business Intelligence 

According to a new report from The Media Audit, online 

shopping by African-Americans, Must be able to respond Asians, more quickly Hispanics and other 

minorities has increased 

to changes 

dramatically 

in consumer 

during 

demand 

the past five years. 

Need a better match between 

After surveying adults in 88 products markets, and customers Media Audit found that 

about 41 percent of Must both improve African-Americans customer service and Hispanics 

now shop online, compared without increasing to about payroll 27 costspercent five years 

ago. Among Asians, 70 percent Difficult now to differentiate shop online compared to 

from competitors 

56 percent five years ago. Overall, among all adults surveyed, 

Need to reduce out-of-stocks 

about 58 percent say they shop online. 

Need to reduce inventory 

and improve turns 

Rapid growth is driving us into new 

markets - need better store selection tools 

3.5% 3.9 

2.6% 

0 5 10 15

Very 

likely 

Somewhat 

likely 

Not very 

likely 

Not at all 

likely 

Don’t 

know 

Very 

likely 

Somewhat 

likely 

Not very 

likely 

Not at all 

likely 

Don’t 

know 

3% 

Worker Rights and Wrongs 

3% 

Employee costs have risen more than 30 percent in the last 

five years 2% according to American Business Research. At the 

same time, keeping good employees is as crucial as ever. The 

ABR survey, for example, reported that 69 percent of customers 

stop doing business with a company due to poor service from 


employees. What’s more, 96 percent of unhappy customers do 

not complain to the establishment but on average tell two other 

people about their unsatisfying experience. 

All the while, one in every 28.2 employees was apprehended 


for theft from their employer, says ABR, and just 4.6 percent of 


total retail theft losses resulted in a recovery. In other words, for 

every $1 recovered by companies, $20.76 was lost to retail theft. 

6% 

Internet 10% Accounts for 8% of 

Sports Gear Sales 

According to figures pulled together 38% by the National 

Sporting Goods Association, purchases of sports equipment 82% on 

the Internet have gone from 1.4 percent of 44% the total equipment 

market in 1999 to 8.1 percent in 2006. In dollars, that’s from $300 

million to 2% just less than $2 billion. Since 2000, this represents a 

166 percent increase in Internet sports equipment purchases. 

Purchases of sports equipment in all channels, by comparison, 

rose Source: 14 Newgistics percent in that same time period. 

Interestingly enough, NSGA figures show sales of 

sports gear over the Internet dipping slightly in 2006 

from 2005 figures, suggesting that the growth in 

e-commerce sales of sports gear may be leveling off. 

1999 

20% 

Data Points 

Sports Internet Sales 

10.0% 

9.0% 

8.0% 

7.0% 

6.0% 

5.0% 

4.0% 

3.0% 

2.0% 

1.0% 

0% 

Source: NSGA 

2000 

2001 

Equipment 

2002 

Footwear 



2003 

2004 

 

72% 

2005 

92% 

2006 




100 

10 

8 

6 

4 

2 

Malaysia 

Brazil 

Spain 

6.0% 

Anxiety about sharing personal data is the biggest barrier 

Australia 

5.7% 

to consumer United acceptance States of mobile banking 5.2% and commerce, 

with two-thirds South (66 Korea percent) of respondents 5.1% saying so, say 

Harris figures. 

Taiwan 

Service 

Italy 

France 2.9% 

Check bank account balance/transfer/funds 

Sweden 

35% 

2.8% 

Receive text message Germany alerts 2.2% 33% 

Mobile wallet Switzerland 1.3% 19% 

Shopping Japan 0.8% 16% 

Wire transfer 9% 

Stock trading 9% 

Other Source: OECD and TNS Retail Forward 3% 

None of the above 53% 


8.2% 

4.7% 

6.5% 

4.7% 

5.9% 

4.6% 4.9% 

4.4% 

5.5% 

Buying and Banking On-the-Go 

A new Harris Interactive study shows that one in four cell 

phone subscribers 0 with mobile Internet access now use their 

devices to buy goods and services online with a credit card, and 

nearly one in five -2say they would like to someday use cell phones 

as a “mobile wallet,” where charges would be billed directly 

to their mobile -4accounts. Consumers not currently banking or 

buying on-the-go expressed at least some interest in having such 


applications on their mobile phones, say Harris researchers. It 

should be noted, however, that among the more than 250 million 

mobile phone subscribers in the U.S., only about 30 to 40 million 


currently take a mobile data plan, and adoption rates of mobile 

Internet services have been a bit slower during the past few 

Russia 

years than the mobile carriers had hoped for. 

15.4 

Nigeria 

12.8% 

Turkey 

11.2% 

Frequency of Indonesia Making Purchases with Mobile Phones 10.6% 

(% of owners surveyed) 

Vietnam 

10.4% 

India 

10.4% 

Frequency 

Philippines 

Mobile Phone Smartphone 

9.7% 

Daily Argentina 1% 5% 9.6% 

Weekly China 1% 4% 8.9% 

Monthly 

South Africa 

4% 1% 7.9% 

Occasionally 

Thailand 

17% 25% 7.7% 

Mexico 

7.2% 


7.1% 

6.6% 

Canada 

4.7% 

Poland 

4.6% 


4.1% 

Interest in Banking, BelgiumCommerce 4.0% or Investment Apps 

for Mobile Device Netherlands 

3.6% 

3.6% 

3.0% 

Interest 

(% of respondents) 

4.3% 4.2% 4.3% 


More Minorities Shopping Online 

of Customer-Driven Business Intelligence 

According to a new report from The Media Audit, online 

shopping by African-Americans, Must be able to respond Asians, more quickly Hispanics and other 

minorities has increased 

to changes 

dramatically 

in consumer 

during 

demand 

the past five years. 


After surveying adults in 88 products markets, and customers Media Audit found that 

about 41 percent of Must both improve African-Americans customer service and Hispanics 

now shop online, compared without increasing to about payroll 27 costspercent five years 

ago. Among Asians, 70 percent Difficult now to differentiate shop online compared to 


56 percent five years ago. Overall, among all adults surveyed, 

Need to reduce out-of-stocks 

about 58 percent say they shop online. 

Need to reduce inventory 

and improve turns 



3.5% 3.9 

2.6% 

0 5 10 15

Retail Odyssey 

2015 

Shifts in consumer behavior raise the relevance 

of retail technology investments 


and efficiency become 

significantly more important during 

times of economic uncertainty,” says 

“Technology 

Scott Kreisberg, CEO of One Step Retail 

Solutions, a provider of point of sale software for 

small to mid-sized retailers. 

Kreisberg’s words certainly contain an element of 

common sense, but his assessment may or may not 

carry weight with those who control retail capital expenditure 

budgets, particularly those within the ranks 

of small to mid-sized retailers. 

What appears more certain, however, is the closure 

of some longer-term cycles and the maturing of 

a few trends that will “drive more change in the way 

consumers shop in the next 10 years than it has in 

the last 20 years,” according to a study on the future 


ADAPTIVE COMFORT

ource: Newgistics 

of retail from TNS Retail Forward and PricewaterhouseCoopers. 

And everywhere one looks, it’s technology of some 

sort that is a key enabler, cause or requirement of the 

coming changes. Specifically, that includes technological 

advancements in the areas of connectivity and 

collaboration (wireline and wireless), customer and 

real-time data mining and management, predictive capabilities 

and multimedia. A bit further down the road 

await a few emerging technologies such as biometrics, 

including facial, voice and fingerprint recognition; iris 

and retinal scanning; and self-activated agents that will 

perform routine tasks without human intervention. 

“Technology will be 72% pervasive in 2015,” researchers 

from TNS Retail Forward and PricewaterhouseCoopers 

92% 

predict. “Falling costs, widespread availability and adoption 

of devices, a working infrastructure and standardization 

will accelerate the integration of technology.” 

Indeed, in the retail reality of the next decade, technology-based 

platforms and solutions that are considered 

the “gold standard” today will move closer to 

mainstream adoption levels, the study suggest. That’s 

true even for small to mid-sized retailers, for whom 

technology traditionally has not been a top priority, as 

the emphasis behind tech investments continues to shift 

from being a means of increasing efficiencies to being a 

key asset for customer retention and business success. 

At the core, of course, is the Web and Internet protocol, 

or IP, which often is thought of as simply meaning 

“on the public Internet,” yet IP means so much more. 

One big reason why Internet technologies will become 

vastly more important is because “e-commerce” represents 

the only way for many retailers without a global 

footprint to compete globally. And make no mistake, the 

rapid ascent of the middle-class in developing countries 

around the global is where most everyone expects largescale 

growth to come 

38% 

 

from during the next several years. 

Assuming that barriers to global 82% trade continue to 

come down, while developing 

44% 

markets continue to 

phase out restrictions on foreign retailer operations and 

liberalize regulation of direct foreign investment, retailers 

in 2015 “will do business in a true global economy 

– global customer base, global sourcing, global outsourcing 

pool, global reach,” the TNS and PwC study 

predicts. “Global scope will be a necessity, not an option, 

to grow the top line and bolster the bottom line.” 

All the while, global sourcing will become a critical 

component of differentiated assortments at competitive 

price points. 

Retail issues in developed markets around the 

globe, meanwhile, “basically will be a mirror image of 

issues confronted by the U.S. economy – aging populations, 

shrinking share of retail spending and increased 

spending on healthcare,” says PwC and TNS Retail 

Forward. “In contrast, populations in developing 

markets will remain relatively young and will increase 

share of retail spending.” 

ikelihood of shopping again if returns 

re CONVENIENT 

3% 

3% 

2% 

2% 

6% 

10% 

ource: Newgistics 

20% 

ikelihood of shopping again if returns 

re INCONVENIENT 

ports Internet Sales 

0.0% 

9.0% 

8.0% 

7.0% 

6.0% 

5.0% 

4.0% 

3.0% 

2.0% 


Developing markets, meanwhile, will continue to 

build their pool of university-educated labor and talent, 

say analysts, shifting the nucleus of knowledge 

workers. “Trend-spotters will want to set up camp in 

developing markets, especially Asia, which will begin 

to eclipse developed markets as a hotbed of cultural 

and retail market influence,” argue PwC and TNS Retail 

Forward analysts. 

“Most major retailers will be out of expansion room 

in the United Retail States Formats for with their Below core concepts Average by Sales 2015,” Growth 

they warn. In other words, very few formats will grow 

at a rate exceeding the overall retail sales growth rate, 

10 

and most areas will experience slowing rates of growth 

8.2% 

compared to earlier in the millennium, according to forecasts 

from the U.S. 6.5% Department of Commerce. “Players 

8 

5.9% 

will need to turn elsewhere for growth—new 5.5% 

6 

concepts, 

4.7% 

new customer segments, 

4.7% 4.6% 4.9% 

new geography, 4.4% 4.3% new 4.2% categories,” 

4says PwC and TNS Retail Forward. 

3.5% 3.9% 3.5% 

4.3% 

2.6% 

2.6% 3.1% 

That’s not the best news for U.S.-based companies 

looking 2 to expand globally, as large European retailers 

already have a bit of a head start when it comes to 

operating 0 on an international scale. 

And going global is not just about large scale growth. 

-2 

In many ways, what makes the Internet’s much ballyhooed 

long tail worth wagging is the affordable access 

-4 

it provides to geographic expansion, since that is precisely 

what Source: facilitates Newgistics “economies of small-scale,” so to 

speak. In other words, global scale may be the only way 


Russia 

15.4% 

Nigeria 

12.8% 

Turkey 

Indonesia 

Vietnam 

India 

Philippines 

Argentina 

China 

South Africa 

Thailand 

Mexico 

Malaysia 

Brazil 

Spain 

Australia 

United States 

South Korea 

Canada 

Poland 


Belgium 

Netherlands 

Taiwan 

Italy 

France 

Sweden 

Germany 

Switzerland 

Japan 

11.2% 

10.6% 

10.4% 

10.4% 

9.7% 

9.6% 

8.9% 

7.9% 

7.7% 

7.2% 

7.1% 

6.6% 

6.0% 

5.7% 

5.2% 

5.1% 

4.7% 

4.6% 

4.1% 

4.0% 

3.6% 

3.6% 

3.0% 

2.9% 

2.8% 

2.2% 

1.3% 

0.8% 

0 5 10 15 20 

Source: OECD and TNS Retail Forward

get 

on 

the 

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1999 

Must 

to generate sufficient volume to make the long tail Business be able to respond Challenges more quickly 

Equipment 

Driving the Use 

to changes in consumer demand 

economically productive for lots of players. And of Customer-Driven Business Intelligence 

Footwear 


Linear (Equipment) over the next decade or so, argues Elaine Pollock, 

products and customers 

Must be 

Equipment executive vice president at TNS Retail Forward 

Must able improve to respond customer more service quickly 


to without changes increasing consumer payroll demand costs 

Footwear and lead author of the Retailing 2015 study, it’s 


Linear (Equipment) likely we will see a decline in the “mass-appeal approach” 

to retailing in favor of “niche merchandis- 

Must improve customer service 

products 

Difficult to 

and 

differentiate 

A 


customers 


without Need to increasing reduce out-of-stocks payroll costs 

ing” and personalization. 

s Your VoIP Service Compare to Your Old Service 

Need Difficult to reduce to differentiate inventory 

GA 

panies with 100 or fewer employees “The Internet that have will adopted exert VoIP) more influence—continuing 

and from improve competitors turns 

to grow rapidly as a retail channel, but, Rapid growth Need to is reduce driving out-of-stocks us into new 


even more importantly, continuing to grow exponentially 

as the conduit to the vast marketplace 

and 

s Your VoIP Service Compare to Your Old Service 

Fragmented 

Need 

views 

to reduce inventory 

of our 

improve 

customers 

panies with 100 or fewer employees that have adopted VoIP) 

are costing us sales 

turns 

outside traditional space,” she says. 


markets - need better Need store to selection reduce shrink tools 

Along with other emerging trends, such as demographic 

dichotomies and household downsiz- 

are costing us sales 0 0.5 1 

Fragmented views of our customers 

84% 

84% 60% ing, 64% consumers’ instantaneous access to infinite 

80% 92% 

A Lot of Need Influence to reduce shrink No Influence 

choices online 84% and 92% the growing ability for consumers 

8% to remix, adapt or create what they cannot find 

0 0.5 1 

Some Influence 

84% 24% 60% will 64% begin to splinter mainstream retail into smaller 

niche offerings, 84% 92% 

80% 92% 

A Lot of Influence No Influence 

84% 

Source: Retail Systems Research 

8% 8% 28% 

suggests Pollock, even down 

16% 

16% 

12% 4% 4% 

Some Influence 

8% 8% to 8% “units of one.” Constant connectivity and the 

4% 4% 4% 4% 

24% 

anywhere/anyway/anytime access to products 


8% 8% and 28% information 16% is leading to what PwC and TNS 

16% 

12% 4% 4% 

8% 8% call “perfect 4% product 4% 4% access” 4% – availability of the 

right product, at the right place, at the right time – Opportunities Retailers See to Improve 

orse About the Same VoIP Better 

which in turn allows shoppers to buy less of “what Satisfaction Across All Channels 

is popular” and more of “what suits them.” 

tar 

In a global e-commerce economy, notions such Opportunities Create single Retailers brand See to Improve 87% 

12% 

orse About the Same VoIP Better 

identity across all channels 

as “limited editions,” customization and “fast fashion” 

will replace “stack it high and let it fly” as the take delivery or return a item 

65% 

23% 12% 

Satisfaction Across All Channels 

Allow customers to purchase, 

tar 

Create across single channels brand 

u recommend VoIP profitability service to mantra, Pollock and her team argue. 

87% 

12% 

Allow inventory 

identity 

allocated 

across all 

from 

channels 

one 

ness peers? The general rule of thumb that 80 percent of sales 

47% 36% 16% 

channel Allow customers be used to for purchase, another 

come from 20 percent of SKUs may no longer apply, take delivery or return a item 

65% 

23% 12% 

Improve operational across execution channels 

u recommend VoIP as service the other to 80 percent of units could represent an 

71% 26% 

Allow inventory allocated 

across all 

from 

channels 

one 

ness peers? increasing share of sales and profits. 

47% 36% 16% 

100 

channel to be used for another 

34% 21% 39% 

< 

Offer customized and 

“The economics of scarcity will Employees 

35% 51% 14% 

give way to the 

Improve 

unique 

operational 

product 

execution 

offering 

71% 26% 

economics of abundance,” Pollock says. 

Explore across new all channels, 

Granted, online sales currently account for only 

(i.e. mobile phones) 26% 40% 34% 

100 

34% 21% 39% 

< 

Offer customized and 35% 51% 14% 

about 7 percent of sales among outdoor 

Employees 

stores with Consistent unique and clear product explanation offering 

an e-commerce-enable Web presence, according 

of product features and 

61% 33% 6% 

100 

information Explore across new channels, 

24% to figures from 52% 

> 

Outdoor Industry Association. But 

(i.e. mobile phones) 26% 40% 34% 

Employees 

Improve our promotional 

53% 38% 9% 

there is more to it than your Web site’s level of e- Consistent and clear effectiveness explanation 

of product features and 

61% 33% 6% 

commerce enablement or “online sales” 100 in the traditional 

60 sense. It’s about 80 consumers’ 100 Employees 

Very Important 

Not very important 

information across channels 

24% 52% 

> 

20 40 expectations, and 

Improve our promotional 

53% 38% 9% 

the challenges the retail industry faces in its attempt 

effectiveness Somewhat Important 

20 

2 to 3become more 4 customer-centric 5 in a world where 

40 customers 60 are more 80diverse, 100 more educated, more 

Source: Retail Systems ResearchVery Important 

Not very important 

mmend Recommend demanding and Highly fully Recommend able to go somewhere else to 

Somewhat Important 

2 get 3exactly what 4 they want the 5 way they want it. 

Consumers, therefore, says Brian Kilcourse, managing 

partner for Retail Systems Research, “no longer 


tar 

Consider, for example, a recent Harris Poll commissioned 

mmend 

tar 

by Chordiant Software in which a full 95 

Recommend Highly Recommend 

percent of consumer respondents said it was at least 

somewhat important that companies know “who I am, 

my buying history, past problems or complaints, preferences 

and billing records.” More than a third said 

knowledge of their personal history was important 

and more than a quarter said it was very important. 

see retailers’ traditional differentiators (product availability 

and price) as sufficient to win their loyalty.” 

So it’s not surprising that more than 50 percent of 

retailers responding to an in-store technology survey 

said their biggest challenge lying ahead is improving 

customer service while holding the line on cost, versus 

the 28 percent who said it was the troubling economic 

1999 

, Adds, 

Changes 

s, Adds, 

Changes 

2000 

2000 

Management 

Management 

2001 

2001 

Call Quality 

Call Quality 

2002 

2002 

Reliability 

Reliability 

2003 

2003 

Routing 

Routing 

2004 

2004 

Features 

Features 

2005 

Capacity 

2005 

Capacity 

2006 

2006 

Multi-Location 




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owth Around the Globe 

picture. 15.4% Incidentally, among the “retail winners” 

12.8% surveyed by Retail Systems Research, 

11.2% defined as those retail companies that outperform 

the pack in a number of key performance 

10.6% 

10.4% 

10.4% indicators, virtually none cited the economy as 

9.7% their biggest challenge, says Kilcourse. 

9.6% 

“Gas may be at an all-time high and projected 

to climb in the next few weeks, and [the 

8.9% 

7.9% 

7.7% consumer] may have to trade down in product 

7.2% 

quality, but she still expects retailers to know 

7.1% 

.6% 

her and cater to her needs,” says Paula Rosenblum, 

Retail Systems Research analyst. 

% 

One upshot of this transition to “demandbased 

management” (what the customer 

wants versus what the customer is forced to 

purchase) is an increasing investment in the 

management of customer data and the ability 

to react to real-time information. Customer 

data will be used not just for marketing and 

mailings or to identify best customers but will 

become a key asset to retailers, says Pollock, 

directly tied to inventory planning, anticipating 

customers’ desires and managing the business 

through business intelligence. 

10 It 15 also will require 20 whole new levels of vendor 

collaboration and total visibility. And, of course, 

d 

higher levels of security will be a prerequisite. 

“Demand-based management can succeed only 

with real-time data information delivered through 

increasingly newer forms of technology delivery systems,” 

says PwC and TNS Retail Forward. 

iving the Use 

Meanwhile, retail brands that provide access to the 

cross-channel fulfillment, say RSR surveys. Among 

those that don’t, the top organizational inhibitor currently 

presenting a barrier to becoming an efficient 

multi-channel retailer was legacy technologies. 

Again, this is more than online sales versus brick 

Top Concerns/Challenges that SMB Retailers Say They Face 

and mortar sales. Rather, Pollock and her peers fully 

expect a melding of the two. In the coming decade, 

they Real-Time argue, Visibility online efficiencies and automation will 

iness Intelligence 

same information and inventory through multiple channels 

will have a distinct competitive advantage, Kil- 

all manner of interactive kiosks and digital media, 

Throughout be introduced the organizationinto the brick-and-mortar world, and 

High Staff Turnover 

course suggests. “Multi-channel retailing has become inextricably 

intertwined with consumers’ sense of what a nectivity will bring unprecedented levels of infor- 

smart carts, location-based advertising and IP con- 

retailer’s brand value is relative to their lifestyle needs.” mation-delivery Capital Constraints and extended product accessibility 

Already, more than 60 percent of “retail winners,” directly to the sales floor, even to the point of creating 

“endless aisles.” 

as defined by Retail Systems Research, say they enable 

Store-Level IT Investment 

“Interactions will be increasingly natural, such as 

Technology Enablers for 

voice activation,” say PwC and TNS analysts. “Selfactivated 

Expectations agents will perform routine tasks without 

Meeting High Customer 

More Customer-Centric Approach 

Must be capable of capturing accurate human intervention.” 

Modern POS 

product and customer information on each It’s a lot to keep 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 

tabs on, for sure. Managing complexity 

and diversity in a business that Percentage must span of the Respondents globe 

transaction 

Channel transparency 

“One view” of the customers across all 

channels 

while also SMBreaching out 

All 

to 

Retailers 

“the niche of one” presents a 

huge challenge for retailers both large and small. 

Winners reduce or even eliminate data and 

Continuous updates analytic latencies, starting with continuous 

Source: An unstable Gartner Group economy doesn’t make things easier, 

0 0.5 1feeds from selling environment 

and likely will lead to longer sales cycles for retail 

No Influence 

technology vendors and more due diligence on the 

Segregated data 

Used for subsequent analysis (reduces 

impact on transaction systems) 

part of retailers. 

Retail winners, however, are fully aware that in 

Simply GUI 

Retailers want an interface that has the 

look and feel of a spreadsheet 

both How the Winners worst of Focus times on and Customer-Centricity 

the best of times, focus 

Provide canned reports 

Winners generate regular production of 

standard reports from production systems 

using “reporting tools” 


See to Improve 


Channels 

Multi-channel Initiative that Have or Could Have Impact 

Ensuring product information 

and pricing is up to date and 

consistent across channels 

Enabling cross-channel 

fulfillment 

Cross selling and 

personalized promotions 

Same day shipping & simple, 

consistent returns 

Synchronizing customer 

and inventory information 

across channels 

Enabling real time views of 

cross-channel inventory 

Information sharing with 

merchandise vendors on 

product features and availability 

Winners 


0 20% 40% 60% 80% 

Others 

Future Potential (all) 

must remain on serving the customer. And in a world 

Educate and empower 

of our constant in-store employees connectivity and seemingly endless options, 

using technologywill play an increasingly important 

role in Add customer self-service centricity. 

customer-facing Technologies 

It’s all about our product 

mix. If we build it, they 

will come. 

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Heeding 

the CALL 

of IP Telephony 

Providers of advanced communications 

solutions DIAL INTO specialty retail 


Small and specialty brick-and-mortar retail operations 

haven’t exactly been a primary target for 

providers of data and communications services. 

That’s probably no surprise, since most retailers 

connectivity needs have been fairly modest 

– T-1 Internet connections or less, a handful of phones, 

mostly local calling, with some messaging – certainly less 

than a few other small business verticals, such as small 

law and medical offices, tech start-ups, financial services 

and local banks, to name a few. 

But independent retailers, all of a sudden, have appeared 

squarely on the radar of providers of advanced 

and emerging connectivity and communications services. 

It’s not so much that specialty stores have seen dramatic 

changes in their voice and data needs, though changes in 

the way we all communicate are occurring. It’s more that 


many retailers fit the mold of operations that stand to reap the 

most gains from the capabilities that can and are being wrought 

by advanced communications. 

Touting “enterprise-class functionality at small business prices” 

and overall savings in voices services spending, groups of advanced 

communications providers have zeroed in on businesses 

that operate multiple offices or branch locations (each with about 

five phone lines or less); owners-managers that need to be accessible 

but rarely can be found at their desks; employees who 

share desks and phone lines; modest local networking requirements 

with little or no “telecom equipment” on site; and some 

customer service functions moving to the Web. Sound familiar? 

For most purposes, we’re talking here primarily about “IP 

telephony,” also known as “VoIP,” or “voice over Internet protocol.” 

It’s important to note that while IP is short for “Internet 

protocol,” it doesn’t necessarily mean on or utilizing the public 

“Internet,” nor is it limited to PC-based calling. IP just happens 

to be the protocol behind the “Internet” we all know and use. 

In other words, while the much-advertised Vonage telephone 

service, for example, sends calls over the public Internet, 

other providers of IP communications have built private IPbased 

networks that in no way ever touch the public Internet, 

and therefore are not susceptible to the quality and reliability 

issues of the public Internet. But by being fully compatible and 

interoperable with the widely available and easy-to-access public 

Internet, IP networks allow providers to develop and deliver 

new and existing communications services much more affordably 

than ever before, often on a nationwide or global basis. 

Use of VoIP Products and Service by North American 

Businesses, 2005 

Small Businesses 

Medium-Sized 

Businesses 

Large Businesses 

14% 23% 36% 

Source: Infonetics Research 

For starters, on IP-based “packet switched” networks, time 

and distance are less relevant than in the old world of the “circuit 

switched” telephone networks, so the line between local 

and local distance calling has been blurred, and as such perminute 

pricing plans are all but disappearing, much as has happened 

with cell phone plans. 

So, if you currently are paying per-minute fees for long distance, 

and your monthly phone bill is significant, IP telephony 

services definitely should be a consideration moving forward. 

At the very least, IP telephony providers tend to offer free or 

unlimited “on-net” calling, such as the calls between dispersed 

branch locations. 

Of course, phones bill are a fairly modest chunk of retailer 

operating expenses, so even a good percentage of savings may 

not necessarily be enough to encourage a switch in telephony 

services. Savings can be driven further, however, by bundling 

landline voice services with other applications such as Internet 

access or even mobile services. The upside for subscribers 

of bundled plans are one point of contact for all services (i.e. 

one bill to pay) and discounts for buying multiple services 

from one provider. 

Source: 8.0% NSGA 

7.0% 


6.0% 


(Among 5.0% companies with 100 or fewer employees that have adopted VoIP) 

4.0% 

100 

3.0% 

2.0% 

801.0% 

60 

40 

20 

0 

9.0% 

0% 

68% 

12% 

8% Linear 8% (Footwear) 28% 

20% 

16% 

8% 8% 

Source: NSGA 

Cost 

1999 

84% 60% 64% 80% 92% 

84% Equipment 

84% 92% 

Moves, Adds, 

Changes 

2000 

Footwear 8% 


24% 

Management 

2001 

Call Quality 

2002 

Reliability 

2003 

16% 12% 4% 4% 

4% 4% 4% 4% 

Routing 

2004 

Features 

Capacity 



VoIP Worse About the Same VoIP Better 

100 


Source: Savatar 

80 

This “convergence” of services is where IP telephony gets 

really 

60 

interesting, beyond just the potential cost savings. To 

simplify Would you matters, recommend convergence VoIP service is when to 

84% 60% voice and messaging 

64% 

services, your business 68% 

Internet peers? connectivity and 80% all related data 

92% 

services are 

40 

84% 

84% 92% 

delivered using the same network through one connection to 

8% 

the customer 12% premises, 24% with increasing levels of cross functionality 

20 

2% 

between the services. 

100 

4% 34% 8% 8% 21% 28% 

16% 39% 

< 

Consider, 20% for example, 16% a link on a Web 12% 

site 4% 4% 

8% 

that a consumer 

8% 

4% 4% 4% 4% 

anywhere 0 on the globe can click, from a computer at their home 

or on a sales floor, and instantly be connected to a live, human attendant 

who speaks the caller’s language and can handle orders, 

frequently asked questions, take a message or forward the call 100 to 

4% > 

VoIP 20% Worse 24% About the Same 52% VoIP Better 

the phone of the proper recipient, all for a monthly fee that easily 

can be justified by a small amount of newly generated business. 


Taking things one step further is “fixed-mobile convergence,” 

whereby applications seamlessly travel across 

0 20 40 60 80 100 

both 

Cost 

Moves, Adds, 

Changes 

Management 

Call Quality 

Reliability 

Routing 

Features 

Would 1 you recommend 2 VoIP service 3 to 4 5 

your business peers? 

Not Recommend Recommend Highly Recommend 

2% 


4% 34% 21% 39% 

4% 20% 24% 52% 


2005 

Capacity 

2006 


0 20 40 60 80 100 

1 2 3 4 5 

Not Recommend Recommend Highly Recommend 

Employees 

Employees 

100 

< 

Employees 

100 

> 

Employees 

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wired and wireless devices. Such services 

can automatically forward and direct all 

calls (desk, mobile or home phone, for example) 

to whatever device is selected by 

the subscriber according to time of day, 

who is calling, the type of call or other 

factors determined by the subscriber. 

This is not down-the-road technology. 

Rather, theses capabilities already exist, with 

most already on the market. And a good deal 

of these technologies now are working their 

way down market, from Fortune 1,000 and 

carrier-level networks to within the reach of 

small and very small businesses. 

What makes the move down market 

possible are a current crop of fully managed 

IP communications solutions that remove 

all the big hardware and complexity from 

the customer premises and places them on 

the service provider’s facilities. At one time, 

deploying advanced and customized communications 

applications required sophisticated 

equipment reside at the customer 

site or sites and a tech staff be employed to 

run things. That’s no longer necessary in 

the software-driven IP-based environment, 

where voice functionalities, settings, security, 

management and remote monitoring all 

can be hosted securely by the providers and 

delivered for a fraction of former prices. 

One such example is multi-location 

phone service. Capabilities such as fourdigit 

extension dialing to multiple stores 

and home-based workers, hunt group 

lists, automated attendant/interactive 

voice response systems that answer and 

direct calls across all extensions or offer 

a menu of selections (Press 1 for store 

hours, 2 for directions, etc.) and self-administration 

tools now can be delivered 

without the installation of expensive private 

branch exchange (PBX) systems. 

Unified messaging, meanwhile, combines 

a user’s voicemails, emails and 

faxes into one in-box where they can be 

viewed and/or directed to the desired 

device. Other capabilities of a unified 

messaging suite typically include call 

screening and preview, do-not-disturb, 

one number to receive all phone and fax 

messages, call detail records, message archiving 

and “find me follow me.” Among 

the services gaining early traction with 

small business executives and owners, 

“find me follow me” automatically dials 

a pre-assigned group of phone numbers 

until the subscriber is found and the call 

is answered, depending on how accessible 

that user wants or needs to be. Users 

also can direct calls based on day, time, 

who is calling or availability, and special 

rings can be assigned to certain callers. 

Combine the capabilities of find me follow 

me, automated voice response, multistore 

phone service and click-to-call Web 

links and the potential includes providing 

a link from an Internet-enabled PC located 

on a sales floor that a customer can click 

to get a question answered by any department 

or expert at any of the connected 

stores or home offices, no matter where 

that employees is at that moment. 

More to the present, existing hosted 

IP telephony services include many of 

the above features at prices that are below 

what most retailers likely pay for 

their standard business phones lines 

from the dominant telecom providers. 

IP-based providers will come knocking 

with promises of as much as 50 percent or 

more savings off your current phone bill, 

but something around 20 to 30 percent is 

more reasonable, says Frank Paterno, vice 

president of marketing for Intelliverse, a 

provider of hosted IP communications. 

Intelliverse’s CompleteCall hosted 

VoIP service, for example, offers local 

phone numbers, unlimited nationwide 

calling, multi-store services, unified messaging, 

automated attendant, find me follow 

me, one number service and more for 

about $50 a month per line. 

To get on board with the service, it’s 

likely new desk phones will be needed or 

an adapter be installed so the old phones 

can interact with the new network. It also 

assumes an existing Internet connection 

can handle the load, as the Complete- 

Call solution falls under the “bring your 

own broadband” scenario. And since 

voice traffic is now traveling on the data 

network, there must be adequate bandwidth 

or voice quality can suffer, which 

may be okay for interoffice calling but is 

not something customers and partners 

should experience. 

The big issue with the “bring your own 

broadband” approach is the hosted provider 

has no control over their customers’ “last 

mile connection,” which brings the Internet 

into the building. So if the Internet connection 

is spotty or temporarily goes down, so 

might the voice services in some capacity, 

unless a back-up method is deployed. 


In most cases, retailers with a T-1 line or higher are good to 

go. A typical digital subscriber line (DSL) or cable modem connection, 

meanwhile, normally can handle three to four phone 

lines, says Paterno, and still leave enough room for Internet usage, 

assuming Internet usage at a location is not too heavy, such 

as multiple users on the Web surfing simultaneously and heavy 

downloading/uploading of video and graphic files. 

In terms of bandwidth allocation, “when it comes to voice 

over data, it doesn’t really matter whether you have three or 

four phone numbers or how many phone lines or how many 

people are at a location. What matters is how many people are 

talking or using the Internet at the same time,” says Paterno. 

In other cases, some IP-based providers 

will require that customers purchase 

Internet connectivity from them in order 

to get the IP communications solution, 

or purchase the data connection from a 

partner provider. This approach allows 

the service provider to control the last 

mile connection to better guarantee the 

quality and reliability of the service. It 

may or may not save the customer money 

over their current voice and Internet 

services spending. 

Since the voice and data networking 

requirements of most specialty retailers 

are relatively simple, either option 

should be viable in most instances. But 

quality and reliability, as well as security, 

are important considerations, and so far 

have been the primary drawback of VoIP 

services. Where the old public switched 

telephone network (PSTN) provided 

99.999 percent reliability, IP-based voice 

networks tend to hover around the mid- 

90s in terms of service reliability, particular 

those services that utilize the “bring 

your own broadband” approach. 

On the other hand, performance assurance 

continually improves, with service 

level agreements now being offered 

by select IP telephony distributors. 

After all, VoIP still may be a novel concept 

to the greater population, but the platform 

is actually somewhat mature, widely 

deployed for several years across telecom 

carrier and enterprise networks. One big 

reason why most people are not yet familiar 

with VoIP is because the large incumbent 

phone companies (Verizon, AT&T, Qwest) 

have been given little incentive so far to 

cannibalize their existing revenue streams 

by offering customers a cheaper way to do 

the same thing: make phone calls. 

The shift is coming, however, as global 

networks migrate fully to IP and the old 

circuit-switched, copper networks, which 

are more complex and costly to manage, manipulate and upgrade, 

are eventually retired. Already, investment in the old networks 

has all but ceased. 

That’s not to say you will wake up one day and your 

legacy-based services will be turned off. The point, rather, 

is that a time is coming when the lower cost structures and 

higher levels of functionality and innovation made available 

through IP networks will be the norm, so the bar will be 

raised in terms of how a company communicates internally 

and with its customers and partners. And it’s always best 

to be somewhat informed and prepared for when the time 

comes to make the switch. 


Teva’s High-Tech 

Touch 

Point 

Interactive POS media 

makes its premiere at 

outdoor specialty 


The bleeding edge is not exactly 

the place one tends 

to find outdoor retail-based 

companies. Sure, when it comes to the 

gear and garb, innovations in textiles, 

design and materials often show up in 

the outdoors before they do in most any other consumer 

goods market. But most veteran retail executives 

will tell you that, collectively, outdoor specialty 

is not exactly a leading adopter of the latest in retail 

and point-of-sale technology. 

Teva, however, is leading the way in the march toward 

a POS merchandising revolution. 

And Teva isn’t just dabbling with its new POS 

video experiment. This spring the outdoor brand 

began installing Internet-enabled, touch-screen 

video monitors into 100 selected dealers around 

the country. More than just your typical self-contained 

kiosk with pre-loaded content, the product 

information and branded entertainment served up 

by these two-way devices is centrally monitored, 

managed and updated from a master work station 

back at the Teva offices. 

“A lot of what you see at retail, the fixtures and 

signage, is static,” says Erin Manning, Teva visual 

merchandising manager. “This is really a unique opportunity 

for retail because it is so dynamic.” 

Teva’s touch-screen program 

allows consumers to interact with Teva products and branding. 

“It is a great synergy for our brand 

because of the passionate, active lifestyle that we like 

to convey,” she continues. 

The touch-screen system also allows Teva to collect 

information on what, how and how long customers are 

interacting with the devices in order to modify or tailor 

content according to the data collected. Shoppers can 

interact with the touch screen or provide their contact 

information to receive further updates from Teva. 

The 12-inch, flat-screen monitors mount right on 

the shoe wall, says Manning, “so they will be featured 

right where all of our product sits.” 

For sure, video and connectivity to the sales floor 

have been popping up in most segments of the greater 

retail landscape, from big box and consumer electronics 

stores to gas stations, car dealerships and shopping 

malls. Among the outdoor specialty crowd, one of the 

first applications of POS video came from specialty 

brand Zeal Optics, which integrated a small, fully 

contained monitor into its sunglass and goggle displays. 

Timberland also has been experimenting with 


Americans’ View of POS Video, Adults 18 and Over 

Have you ever watched video programming in a store, not including on TV 

at TV retailer? 

Have you ever purchased a product that you hadn’t planned on buying 

after seeing it featured in a store’s video programming? 

Source: Arbitron, 2006 

video at the point of sale in some of its 

retail markets. But as far as we know, 

this is the first time outdoor specialty 

dealers have been exposed to any type 

of “retail media network.” 

“We are rolling this out with our top 

independent specialty dealers, the local 

outdoor shops” says Manning. “Those 

are the types of retailers at which we 

have the opportunity to really reach 

our customers.” 

To deliver its video merchandising 

program, Teva teamed up with Ronin 

Wireless Technologies, employing 

Ronin’s managed digital signage solution. 

Ronin’s software, running on 

each of the deployed monitors and at 

the central location, handles most of 

the work and serves up the end-user 

functionalities, such as network management, 

customized distribution, 

playlist creation, scheduling and database 

integration. Ronin also handles 

installation, support and security for 

Teva, says Manning. 

Unlike a true retail media network, 

which would be delivered on a private 

or virtual private network, the touch 

screens are networked through the retailers 

existing broadband connection. 

Ronin can hard wire the screens or network 

them wirelessly, utilizing the ubiquitous 

Wi-Fi standard (802.11 a/b/g). 

The “bring your own broadband” 

approach means retailers’ local area 

networks will need to sacrifice some 

Consumers Most Interested 

in Sales and Product Info 

Sales and specials 81% 

Info on in-store products 72% 

Special events 68% 

News 67% 

Weather 67% 

Topical shows 52% 

Gift card info 50% 

Music videos 49% 

Sports info 46% 

Quiz and trivia 36% 

Source: Arbitron, 2006 

Yes 

No 

Not 

Sure 

33% 64% 3% 

29% 69% 2% 

bandwidth, but service and installations 

in a dozen or so pilots, says Manning, 

have been “clean, smooth and 

non-intrusive to the retailer.” 

The content being served up on 

the touch-screen monitors currently 

is divided into a few categories. First 

and foremost, there’s the product information, 

dominated by technology 

information designed to answer any 

questions a consumer may have when 

considering a purchase. 

As an added benefit, the product 

information, available instantly right 

there on the sales floor, also serves as a 

tool for in-store sales staffers, Manning 

points out. “If the sales rep doesn’t 

maybe know all five points about a 

product, they can refer to this unit and 

get a little more information to help 

push the product,” she says. 

From there, users can move to the 

“Teva Tribe” section, which contains 

brand and cultural content such as 

films from the Teva Mountain Games; 

video and information on Teva athletes; 

and Teva’s participation in local 

events and community efforts, including 

its recent involvement with the 

IMAX movie, Grand Canyon Adventure: 

River at Risk. 

“Then we have a kind of ‘get connected’ 

section, where the consumer 

can sign up for sweepstakes and promotions 

that will run through the site,” 

says Manning. “Right now, for example, 

there is a sweepstakes related to the 

IMAX film, in which we are giving away 

a river trip on the Grand Canyon.” 

Indeed, there are still many questions 

and doubts surrounding POS video and 

Internet connectivity – most notably, 

whether or not consumers want to be 

engaged on the sales floor and how. 

If nothing else, the ability to collect 

user engagement data will provide Teva 

with some quantifiable metrics that can 

be applied to future POS video efforts. 

Stay tuned … there’s lots more to come. 

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POS Software Directions & Directory 


After a good bit of overspending in the “dot-com” era and the 

time leading up to Y2K, retail IT executives were forced to serve 

a type of penance, and were pushed into the back room of organizations 

where technology was seen mostly as a cost management 

mechanism rather than a strategic weapon. For many retailers, 

that’s placed even more pressure on already-aging IT infrastructures—point 

of sale software and systems notwithstanding. 

According to an Aberdeen Group survey of 175 retail companies 

in January of this year, for example, 60 percent of respondents 

said they are working with POS systems that are 

older than five years. Out of that 60 percent, 35 percent have 

POS systems in place that are more than 10 years old. Aberdeen 

research also shows, by the way, that the “specialty store” segment, 

in general, is where one is most likely to find legacy systems 

in place. 

The Competitive Framework 

Process 

Organization 

Knowledge 

Technology 

Performance 

Source: Aberdeen Group 

Best-in-Class Average Laggards 

Ability to access Web sites , catalog and fulfill Web generated orders at POS 

32% 14% 9% 

Ability to process accurate product promotions through POS (prince integrity 

and coupon usage) 

63% 55% 30% 

Ability to provide stores with help desk phone support personnel 

61% 47% 34% 

Ability to analyze POS data close to real time to plan targeted promotions 

for POS execution 

41% 27% 11% 

Customer-centric hardware, software and peripherals POS technologies can 

currently use 

- 44% touch-screen POS 

with multi-channel 

service functions 

- 42% POS software for 

loyalty programs 


gift card processing 

- 30% POS system with 

CRM software 

- 60% universal PIN entry 

device for payment 

acceptance 

- 25% mobile POS 

handheld 

- 35% SOA for POS 

application integration 

- 28% touch-screen POS 

with multi-channel 

service functions 


loyalty programs 


gift card processing 

- 25% POS system with 

CRM software 

- 21% universal PIN entry 

device for payment 

acceptance 


handheld 



POS performance management parameters used 

42% report and manage 

customer POS experience 

using customer 

satisfaction at POS 

22% report and 

manage customer POS 

experience using customer 

satisfaction at POS 


- 14% touch-screen 

POS with multichannel 

service 

functions 

- 12% POS software 

for loyalty programs 

- 36% POS software 

for gift card 

processing 

- 12% POS system 

with CRM software 

- 11% universal PIN 

entry device for 

payment acceptance 


handheld 



15% report and 

manage customer 

POS experience using 

customer satisfaction 

at POS 

That may seem reassuring to retailers still tapping away on 

older systems, but at the same time, nearly half (47 percent) 

of retailers surveyed said complex and time-consuming POS 

checkout procedures were a major pressure impacting customer 

POS experiences. And as we stress elsewhere in this issue, much 

of technology investments moving forward will be influenced 

directly by the customer experience and other loyalty drivers. 

So while it took nearly half a century for barcode technology 

to move from its crude beginnings to something retailers “needed” 

to its current universal form, today new technologies come 

from multiple directions, adoption cycles move in years rather 

than decades and those that fall behind seem to have less time to 

regain their competitive position. 

The stakes, when it comes to POS systems, have gotten higher, 

as well. 

“POS applications have moved well beyond the automation 

of everyday retail sales transactions,” say analysts 

at Gartner, Inc. “Retailers of all sizes no longer see 

POS technologies as merely cost-cutting applications but 

as key tools to driving revenue growth by enhancing the 

customer experience and retaining customer loyalty.” 

Indeed, POS transactions are a primary source of 

customer and retail data, and that data is being used by 

retailers to monitor store performance, manage supply 

chains and inventory, plan and allocate merchandise, 

develop promotions and marketing, forecast customer 

spending and measure customer service. 

So it’s probably not surprising that Aberdeen 

Group’s “Best in Class” retail companies – in terms of 

their performance in a group of standard customercentric 

measurement – “are at least two times more 

likely than all others to have cutting-edge customercentric 

capabilities and enabling technologies that aid 

in a consistent approach toward fulfilling customer 

needs at POS from an order management, loyalty programs 

and guided selling, and payment acceptance 

standpoint,” says the research firm. 

So you can see where your retail operation stands in 

relation to Aberdeen Group’s top performers in customer 

satisfaction at the point of sale, below is a completive 

framework that details the POS capabilities of the “retail 

winners” with a comparison to “average” performers 

and “laggards.” Following that are detailed listings 

in a directory of POS software providers and resellers 

that service outdoor, independent and specialty retail. 

Hopefully, it can help with any upgrade, replacement 

or migration strategies you may have in the works. 

Anyone who would like to see the specifics as to 

how Aberdeen Group defines its “Best in Class” with 

regard to this discussion, please feel free to contact us 

at martin@bekapublishing.com.

VISIONS FOR 

YOUR BUSINESS 

Discover the world’s leading 

trade fair for the outdoor industry. 

July 17 – 20, 2008 

Friedrichshafen, Germany 

www.european-outdoor.com

POS Software Providers and their Wares 

Big Hairy Dog Information Systems, Inc. 

3205 Ramos Circle Sacramento, CA 95827 

Phone: 800-377-7776 Fax: 916-368-1411 

Contact: info@bighairydog.com 

www.bighairydog.com 

Company Description: 

“Big Hairy Dog information Systems is a premiere support company for leading retail 

automation technology. Over a decade of award-winning service has placed BHD as the 

leader in POS, inventory management, e-commerce and accounting and support.” 

Features and Capabilities Available in POS Service Offering 

Account Credit Notations 

Accounting Integration 

Barcode Scanning 

Cash Register/Drawer Readings 

Commission and Incentives Management 

Check Authorization 

Credit Card Processing 

CRM Integration 

Custom User Interface 

Customizable Fields 

Customizable Functionality 

Customizable Reporting 

Daily Reports 

Data Import/Export 

Debit Card Processing 

eCommerce Tools 

Employee Time Clock 

End-of-Day Processing 

Forms Printing 

Gift Card/Certificate/Store Credit Processing 

History 

Holds and Quotes 

Independent and Distributed Pricing Options 

Inventory Management 

Multi-Currency 

Layaway Capabilities 

Legacy System Integration 

Magnetic Card Reader 

Mobile Access 

Multi-Branch Integration 

Multi-Language 

Multiple Station Management 

Capabilities 

Optional Peripherals Support 

Ordering Automation 

Payment Types 

Pricing 

Refund Automation 

Sales and Discount Automation/ 

Management 

Sales Dashboard 

Serial and Lot Number Tracking 

Service Rentals 

Software Development Kit 

Supply Chain Management 

Tax Recordkeeping 

Touch Screen 

User Passwords 

Warranty Processing Reporting 

Celerant Technology Corp. 

3830 Arthur Kill Rd. Staten Island, NY 10309 

Phone: 718-605-7733 Fax: 718-317-6948 

Contact: Michele Majka, mmajka@celerant.com 

www.celerant.com 


“Celerant Command Retail is a real-time retail management system that manages all areas of 

a sporting goods organization including POS, team sales, sales office, inventory management, 

warehouse, distribution center, allocation, multi-channel/e-commerce/kiosks, data mining, 

and a single, integrated system.” 














Daily Reports 








History 








Mobile Access 



Multiple Station Management Capabilities 



Payment Types 

Pricing 



Management Sales Dashboard 





Touch Screen 



Please see ad one page 29 

Cam Commerce 

17075 Newhope Street, Ste. A Fountain Valley, CA 92708 

Phone: 714-241-9241 Fax: 714-241-9893 

Contact: Chester Ritchie, chester.ritchie@camcommerce.com 

www.camcommerce.com 


“CAM Commerce Solutions designs, develops, markets and services highly integrated retailing 

and payment processing solutions for small to medium-size traditional and e-commerce 

businesses based on the company’s open architecture software. These integrated solutions 

include inventory management, point of sale, accounting, credit and debit card processing, 

Internet sales, gift card and customer loyalty programs, and extensive management reporting.” 













Daily Reports 









Independent and Distributed Pricing 

Options 









Payment Types 

Pricing 



Management 







E.E.S Companies, Inc. 

1257 Worcester Rd., #332 Framigham, MA 01701 

Phone: 508-653-6911 Fax: 508-650-1872 

Contact: sales@eesco.com 

www.eesco.com 


“POS/OE 4 is a very robust, fully integrated business operations program, which includes the 

latest advances in technology. POS/OE 4 operate on the both Mac and Windows and offers 

POS, Web order processing, inventory control, CRM, accounting, customized reporting, multistore 

location access, real-time PDA access and much more.” 













Daily Reports 








History 







Mobile Access 






Payment Types 

Pricing 



Management 






Touch Screen 





Everest Software Inc. 

21631 Ridgetop Circle, Suite 100 Dulles, VA 20166 

Phone: 800-382-0725 Fax: 703-234-6680 

Contact: Lindsay Barret, lbarret@everestsoft.com 

www.everestsoftwareinc.com 


“Everest Software is Your Business Operating System. You can efficiently manage every 

business process from a single, integrated solution. Everest works the way you do. Support 

sales in a shared environment that eliminates duplicate data entry yet allows you total 

control. It’s ideal for growing small and medium businesses.” 













Daily Reports 







History 










Payment Types 

Pricing 

Sales and Discount Automation/Management 






Touch Screen 



One Step Retail Solutions 

22520 N. 18th Dr. Phoenix AZ 85027 

Phone: 800-266-1328 Fax: 623-580-8182 

Contact: Cyndi Seidler, cseidler@onestepretail.com 

www.onestepretail.com 


“OSRS is the leading retail technology service provider in the U.S., servicing the technology 

needs of specialty retailers since 1985. The company specializes in retail POS software 

systems that help retailers be in control of inventory and manage their business more 

efficiently. Offices in California, Arizona and New York.” 












Daily Reports 








History 







Mobile Access 






Payment Types 

Pricing 



Management Sales Dashboard 




Touch Screen 

User Passwords


POS-IM 

1330 Flint Meadow Dr. Kaysville, UT 84037 

Phone: 800-409-7678 Fax: 801-546-6490 

Contact: Lynn Horrocks, horrocksl@posim.com 

www.posim.com 


“We have been providing a leading edge POS and inventory management for Macintosh and 

Windows users for more than 20 years. We have a full suite of tools to help your retail store 

be more successful.” 


POSitive Software Company 

2290 Robertson Dr. Richland, WA 99354 

Phone: 800-735-6860 Fax: 509-375-0629 

Contact: sales@gopositive.com 

www.gopositive.com 


“POSitive Software Company has been in business since 1993. Our flagship product, POSitive 

Retail Manager (PRM) is a sophisticated yet intuitive POS system built around Microsoft’s 

SQL, a robust and scalable database. PRM also has built-in credit card processing and 

e-commerce capabilities.” 








Daily Reports 







History 







Mobile Access 



Payment Types 

Pricing 




Touch Screen 













Daily Reports 








History 








Mobile Access 






Payment Types 

Pricing 






Touch Screen 



Radiant Systems 

1727 Kirby Parkway Memphis, TN 38117 

Phone: 901-681-2800 Fax: 901-681-2902 

Contact: Andee Williamson, retailsales@radiantsystems.com 

www.counterpointpos.com 


“In more than 500 sporting goods stores across the country, Radiant Systems offers a 

complete technology solution – CounterPoint software, retail-ready hardware, e-commerce 

and technical services – that will help you build customer loyalty, consistently grow sales and 

better control operating costs.” 













Daily Reports 








History 








Mobile Access 





Payment Types 

Pricing 







Touch Screen 



Retail Anywhere 

4450 El Camino Real Atascadero, CA 93422 

Phone: 800-257-2734 Fax: 805-546-1006 

Contact: Brenee Staples, sales@retailanywhere.com 

www.retailanywhere.com 


“Retail Anywhere POS delivers the robust features and functionality required to provide 

valuable customer, inventory and marketing information to enhance the overall shopping 

experience for customers and increase sale for retailers. A real-time and easy-to-use solution, 

Retail Anywhere POS is scalable and flexible to easily handle growth and new functionality 

requirements.” 














Daily Reports 







History 







Mobile Access 






Payment Types 

Pricing 







Touch Screen 




Retail Pro 

3252 Holiday Court La Jolla CA 92037 

Phone: 858-550-3355 

www.retailpro.com 


“Retail Pro is one of the world’s most renowned providers of merchandising software for 

retailers. Retail Pro was originally developed in the mid 1980s by Retail Technologies 

International and has emerged as the premier store operations solution around the world.” 

RunIT Real Time 

447 Broadway New York, NY 10013 

Phone: 212-431-0707 Fax: 212-431-5666 

Contact: Steve Treiber, steve.treiber@runit.com 

www.runit.com 


“RunIT is real-time POS software systems for independent retailers. From in-store POS to 

e-commerce and from inventory management to accounting, RunIT is a complete POS 

software solution. RunIT provides all the real-time tools to run your business more profitably.” 














Daily Reports 








History 








Mobile Access 



Multiple Station Management 

Capabilities 



Payment Types 

Pricing 



Management 







Touch Screen 














Daily Reports 







History 






Mobile Access 






Payment Types 

Pricing 




Touch Screen 


RVP Business Systems 

6001 Overland Rd. Boise ID 83709 

Phone: 208-376-8121 Fax: 208-376-8143 

Contact: Tom Welsh, twelsh@rvpsystems.com 

www.rvpsystems.com 


“RVP Business Systems, established in 1973, provides retail businesses with tools needed to 

ensure their business is operating at its maximum level of efficiency. The most cost effective 

way to accomplish this is with an open architecture, computer-based POS system.” 


TallySoft 

311 South Central Ave. Canonsburg, PA 15317 

Phone: 724-873-5264 Fax: 724-873-5265 

Contact: Mike Stephenson, mikes@tallysoft.com 

www.tallysoft.com 


“TallySoft offers a complete software and hardware retail POS, back-office management and 

eCommerce solution. Our Windows-based, touch screen allows you to manage your sales, 

inventory, customers, employees, cash flow and more. System processes transactions – from 

credit cards, gift cards, layaway, serialized inventory, special orders and customer quotes.” 














Daily Reports 








History 








Mobile Access 






Payment Types 

Pricing 








Touch Screen 














Daily Reports 














Mobile Access 



Payment Types 

Pricing 






Touch Screen 





VeraPOS Inc. 

595 Market St., Ste. 2400 San Francisco, CA 94105 

Phone: 415-369-9900 Fax: 415-284-0300 

Contact: Doug McNamara, info@versapos.com 

www.versapos.com 


“VersaPOS, as the name connotes, combines flexibility and capability of handling varied 

needs across vertical markets including wineries, jewelry, apparel, home lawn and garden, 

candy and chocolate specialty stores, as well as consumer durables. The solution is easily 

scalable from a single to chain of stores.” 











Daily Reports 






History 












Payment Types 

Pricing 








Touch Screen 



Winward Software Inc. 

Suite 200 – 3547 Skaha Lake Rd. Penticton, BC V2A 7K2 

Phone: 800-663-5750 Fax: 250-492-8886 

Contact: Mark Rutter, sales@wws5.com 

www.sportsstorepos.com 


“SportStorePOS by Winward Software is the best software for sporting good companies … 

period. It is an integrated POS, inventory management and accounting software package. It 

has been designed based on over 20 years of customer feedback to streamline POS, improve 

inventory control and drive profitability.” 













Daily Reports 








History 








Mobile Access 





Payment Types 

Pricing 








Touch Screen 




the Use 

Intelligence 

Gear 

Real-Time Visibility 

Throughout the organization 

High Staff Turnover 

Capital Constraints 

Camping’s Cool Gear, Lukewarm Outlook 


Store-Level IT Investment 

Meeting High Customer 

“Steady, consistent, predictable”: those certainly are terms Expectations Federal & State Taxes Generated 

that could describe the camping market during the past several by Activity Category, $Billions 

years. “Flat participation” is another way to look at it. 

Camping 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 

$36.4 

Bicycling 

And it’s hard to see the latter as anything other than negative, 

or at least worrisome, when considering the massive role Snow SMBsports All Retailers 

$8.8 

Percentage $17.7 of Respondents 

Trail $11.2 

camping sales play in the outdoor specialty sector. Camping-related 

Paddling $4.8 

activities, for example, annually generate almost as much Source: Fishing Gartner Group 

$4.1 

0.5 1 

retail gear sales as snow-, trail- and paddle-based recreations all 

Wildlife viewing $2.7 

Influence 

Hunting $2.2 

combined, say figures from Outdoor Industry Association. The 

Source: OIA 

federal and state taxes generated by camping are more than 

double those generated by bicycling, which is the number two Camping, for many, is thought of as a “family activity,” and 

activity in terms of tax dollars generated. 

How surveys Winners support Focus the on anecdotal Customer-Centricity 

assumptions that “camping” is 

Looking at the sheer numbers of participants, camping ranks 

Educate 

largely 

and empower 

reliant on families setting up a base next to their cars. 

behind only hiking, biking and fishing, according to OIA’s most our in-store In a 2005 employees OIA survey, for example, eight out of ten “car campers” 

90% 

recent participation figures, while the annual spending on durable 

using technology 

and about two-thirds of those who camped 67% away from 

goods per camping participant is second only to skiers their Add self-service cars (63 percent) said they go camping with other family 86% 

customer-facing Technologies 

among the primary categories of outdoor activities, at about members. We’d venture to guess that a goodly chunk 67% of the 

to Improve 

It’s all about our product 

$440 a year compared to skiers’ $480 a year. 

mix. If families we build it, found they at America’s campgrounds are what would 81% be 

nels 

considered will come. “traditional” families – two parents living together 80% 

U.S. Outdoor Activities Markets Comparison, 2006Focus on a 

with 

more convenient 

a couple of kids and maybe a dog. 

77% 

87% 

12% 

customerexperience 

64% 

Participants Gear Retail 

Category 

The problem is a shift in some U.S. demographics that’s 

(000s) Sales ($M) 

Improved in-store 

71% 

leading security to fewer and fewer traditional families to draw from. 

65% Camp-based recreation 23% 12% 45,161 $8,676 

69% 

More According personalized to figures from the U.S. Census and The Brookings 

Hunting 12,800 $6,886 

73% 

Institution, attention from both the average number of persons per household 

47% Fishing 36% 16% 32,900 $6,416 

our Employees 

58% 

Bicycle-based recreation 59,837 $6,230 

in the U.S. and 0% the percent 20% of family 40% households 60% compared 80% to 100% 

total U.S. households have been in decline for well more than 

71% Trail-based recreation 26% 

55,834 $3,340 

Retail Winners 

a decade, with those All declines Other 

Snow-based recreation 15,587 $3,125 

expected to continue into the 

5% Paddle-based 51% recreation14% 

23,596 $2,668 

foreseeable future. 


Source: OIA 

Then again, maybe camping as a category really hasn’t had 

40% 34% 

a fair chance. For at least the last two decades, after all, the 

In other words, for most general outdoor stores, camping 

61% 

53% 

remains the 33% primary 6% reason why most folks walk through 

the doors, and with those campers come all manner of addon 

and impulse 38% sales. 9% Even for the more niche-enthusiast, 

sport specialty shops, it’s certainly not unusual for hard core 

Annual Durable Goods Expenditures Per Participant 

$500 

rtant 

climbers, Not paddlers very important or anglers to visit a campground as part 

of their play, so if camping is not a good part of your marketing 

$400 

and merchandising strategies, an opportunity likely 

t Important 

is being missed. 

$300 

Yet since OIA began tallying participation rates in 

1998, charts tracking how many people go camping and how $200 

often have been nothing but flat, with virtually no period of 

sustained growth. 

$100 

Certainly, it’s not hard to understand the powers working 

against camping’s popularity, such as some recent trends involving 

$0 

“done in a day” adventures, close-to-home pursuits and 

“outdoors as a gym.” At the same time, some much larger national 

trend lines aren’t exactly making the outlook any rosier for 

future participation. 

Bicycle 

Source: OIA 

Water Sports Camping Trail Snowsports 


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“outdoors,” and “outdoor activities” largely have been presented, 

at least to mainstream audiences, almost exclusively through 

high-energy action sports, speed, thrills and the element of risk. 

Most folks, most of the time, simply don’t often run into messaging 

that emphasizes communing with nature or bonding with 

friends and relatives. Maybe that needs to change. A recent survey 

by Leisure Trends, for example, suggests Americans are split 

on whether outdoor time should be used for physical exercise or 

relaxing, with 56 percent preferring to take it easy and socialize 

when outdoors and 46 percent preferring to be active. 

There also might be an opportunity to align with the nation’s 

concerns over the economy by re-emphasizing the 

financial relief afforded by a camping vacation, even when 

including any initial gear purchases. Nowadays, a brand new 

family tent came be gotten for less than $200, sometimes 

less than $100. That’s clearly less than a few nights at a hotel 

for a family of four, and the tent can be used for several years. 

Appetizing food, meanwhile, easily can be packed nowadays 

for a fraction of the cost of a few meals at a restaurant, and 

the campground is far removed from the snack shops, t-shirt 

stands, arcades and activities that empty a parent’s wallet at 

a typical tourist trap. 

Indeed, there is a small amount of historical data to suggest 

such a case would resonate with consumers. After the attacks 

of 9/11, another period in time when Americans experienced 

a sense of instability, there were brief but noticeable rises in 

number of total camping outings and the average number of 

outings per participant. In 2002, both outings and frequency 

hit their highest levels since the late 1990s. 

There’s also lots of cool gear and gadgets to rally around, in 

terms of both equipment and accessories. To get some of those 

creative, marketing juices flowing, following is a small selection 

of innovative new items that we believe possess strong sellthrough 

potential among the crowd of campers. 

Eureka! N!ergy Screen House 

After hearing the “oohs” and “ahs” over its original N!ergy tents 

last year, Eureka added the N!ergy Screen House for this year. Ideal 

for campgrounds, picnics or a full day at 

the soccer field, the new N!ergy 

Screen House features all the 

benefits of Eureka!’s portable 

and rechargeable E! Power 

system to power 12-volt accessories 

inside the tent. 

The three-season screen 

house contains four 

independently controlled 

outlets. Three are 

detachable and can swing to the center of 

the screen house for table-top use. The fourth, fixed outlet is positioned 

in the center of the ceiling to power an overhead light or fan. 

This six-pole rectangular screen house has 120 square feet 

of interior space, and the factory installed wiring system 

can be removed by unfastening the hook-and-loop closures 

of the built-in wiring sleeves. Suggested retail is 

$214.90 (including the E! Power Pak, sold separately). 

www.eurekatent.com 

Primus EasyLight Latern 

The EasyLight offers just about everything a 

camper would want in a lantern. It’s compact, bright 

and easy to light. Running on pressurized gas canisters, 

the EasyLight also features a patented, almost 

noiseless burner and adjustable brightness settings 

that max out at 80 Watts. The EasyLight weighs 6.8 

ounces and requires only 55 cubic inches of pack 

space. Made of corrosion and maintenance-free 

materials, it comes standard with a piezo electric 

igniter and retails for $65. www.nagear.com 

Fozzils ThinkFlat Tableware 

There are no more good excuses to use paper plates at the campsite. 

Fozzils ThinkFLAT designs are super light, pack flat then snap 

into full-size tableware with a few folds. Easy to clean with a nonstick 

surface, Fozzils are designed 

for the ultra-light backpacker 

but also can be conveniently 

used for short hikes, picnics, 

travel and even as dog bowls. 

My kids even have taken their 

foldable bowls to the movie 

theatre to divide up that big tub 

of popcorn. www.fozzils.com 

La Fresh Sunscreen Travel Wipes 

Applying sunscreen lotion to squirming kids is not exactly a fun 

time for parents, and it’s never easy 

to make sure their sun-exposed 

parts get full coverage. Sunscreen 

travel wipes make the 

job so much easier, and La 

Fresh uses “high-end sunscreen” 

and biodegradable 

towelettes for its new 

SPF 30 Sunscreen 

Travel Wipes. Easy to 

pack, with no risk of 

leaks or messy explosions, 

the wipes 

come in packs of 

four at a suggested 

retail of $4.50. Also new 

from La Fresh are all-natural, 

biodegradable and Deet-free insect repellant towelettes. 

www.LaFreshGroup.com 


Gear 

Coghlan’s Micro Latern 

The LED Micro Lantern stands a 

mere 2 inches tall and weighs around 

1 ounce with batteries – making it one 

of the smallest and lightest lanterns 

around the campsite. The Micro Lantern 

features a rugged plastic body with a water-resistant 

rubber switch and a keychain 

mounted on top. For distress situations, 

the Micro Lantern has a flashing mode that 

blasts out its bright LED light for a full 50 

hours using two three-volt button cell batteries. 

In regular mode, the batteries will last for 

up to 25 hours. www.coghlans.com 

HitchSafe Key Vault 

Having once dropped my car keys in a rolling stream, at night, 

while camping in Carson National Forest, New Mexico, it’s not 

hard to see the value of the HitchSafe Key Vault. Better 

for spare key storage 

than crawling 

under your truck 

to find where 

you put the 

hide-a-key, the 

HitchSafe also 

addresses the dilemma 

of securing keys, 

cash and credit cards at 

times when carrying them 

can be a hassle, or there is 

a chance that any cash or credit cards left in the vehicle could 

be stolen. The HitchSafe is secured with two hitch pins inside 

the hitch receiver via two sliding metal bolts. The bolts can be 

removed only when the 10,000-combination drawer is removed, 

and the combination drawer is concealed and protected with a 

dust cover. It takes only seconds to install/uninstall with no tools 

required. www.hitchsafe.com 

Java Log & Pine Mountain Firelogs 

The U.S. Forest Service says transporting firewood lets treekilling 

insects hitch a ride into the woods. These insects cause 

billions of dollars in damage, lost revenue and prevention expenses 

every year. In some states, bringing firewood into parks 

is no longer allowed, and in-park firewood collection tends to be 

discouraged, if not prohibited. The solution? Turns out shopping 

may be more eco-friendly than chopping. The new Java-Log, for 

example, is made with recycled spent coffee grounds and allnatural 

wax, while all-Natural Pine Mountain firelogs are made 

from renewable resources, including recycled sawdust and 

all-natural wax. Both Java-Log and Pine Mountain firelogs are 

longer-burning than firewood, (2 to 3 hours per log), produce 

fewer emissions than firewood and require no kindling or stoking 

(simply light the paper wrapper). www.Java-log.com, www. 

pinemountainbrands.com 

Fargason Tent Chair 

It’s always a bonus when a product has multiple applications, 

and the Tent Chair is ideal for just about any activity under 

the sun. Aside from the campground, the Tent Chair is ideal for 

the beach, watching little 

league games, waiting for 

the fish to bite or in the 

back yard by the pool. It’s 

designed to set up in minutes, 

weighs 10 pounds in 

its carrying case and can 

support adults up to 295 

pounds. It features two 

large, zippered windows in 

the canopy and a zippered 

storage pouch. Fargason 

offers the Tent Chair in 

five colors: blue, red, yellow, 

crimson, camouflage 

and checkered flag. www. 

fargasonoutdoors.com 


Floor Space 

Gramicci’s Real Estate Investment 


Gramicci doesn’t claim to be revolutionizing the retail buying 

process. Rather, buyers within the largest retail segments, such 

as food and drug, mass merchandise and department stores, 

for years have handled ordering and replenishment in much 

the same way that Gramicci is proposing, says Marty Weening, 

Gramicci president. 

That’s not so much the case within the outdoor segment, 

however, and so Gramicci’s new “visual merchandising matrix” 

program and the corresponding buy plans represent a possible 

point of evolution for its outdoor specialty dealer base. 

The outdoor industry’s traditional buying process for apparel, 

which forces buyers to pour over extensive products lines, 

cherry pick the particular SKUs that might appeal to their specific 

customer base, estimate demand for the units and then 

merchandise the disparate garments together on the sales floor 

(repeat and reorder), lacks simplicity, efficiency and fails to address 

a key element of the retail business, say Weening. 

“Retail is a matter of real estate,” he says. 

With that in mind, Gramicci has simplified purchasing, re-ordering, 

inventory control and point-of-sale merchandising for its 

dealers via three pre-established buy plans based on the fixtures 

and square footage a retailer is willing to dedicate to the brand. 

The three different visual merchandising matrices, meanwhile, 

quickly show how the garments and collections merchandise 

together on the retail floor, each being a three-dimensional representation 

based on the allotted square footage. 

“Buyers are under a tremendous amount of pressure,” says 

Matthew Kaseta, Gramicci vice president of sales, faced with 

a growing number of brands, expanding product lines and 

shorter deadlines. “So our goal is to make it as easy as possible 

for them.” 

Gramicci Buy Plan Sample, Women’s 

Date Units Dollars 

G 350 Buy Plan (Space requirement, less wall, 350 square feet) 

Delivery 1 6/15 450 $10,000 

Delivery 2 8/1 520 $15,000 

G 350 Totals - 970 $25,000 

G 240 Buy Plan (Space requirement, 240 square feet) 

Delivery 1 6/15 250 $6,000 

Delivery 2 8/1 350 $9,000 

G 240 Totals - 600 $15,000 

G 120 Buy Plan (Space requirement, 120 square feet) 

Delivery 1 6/15 188 $3,500 

Delivery 2 8/1 184 $6,000 

G 120 Totals - 372 $9,500 

Retailers can choose from three preconfigured buy plans: 

G 120, G 24O or G 350, the numbers representing the respective 

square-footage space requirement. Utilizing their 

existing fixtures, retailers then receive branded toppers for 

each fixture and a selection of pre-merchandised apparel to 

match the corresponding rack space and square footage, 

the apparel broken down by gender and pre-determined delivery 

dates. 

Again, the driving force behind the program is to simplify 

matters for the buyer. Gramicci realizes its line of apparel is big 

and broad. And while the company has broken down its offering 

into four collections (Authentic Originals, Built for Sport, Gramicci 

Life and Greenicci), the G buy plans provide added focus, 

reducing the amount of guesswork on the part of the buyer and 

easing the decision-making process. 

Of course, “the last thing you want to do is tell a buyer, 

‘You have to buy this’” says Kaseta. And so the buy plans and 

merchandising matrices ultimately that may be serve as recommendations. 

Buyers are welcomed to tailor and tweak the 

selection of garments according to their local demographics, 

climate and so forth. 

A retailer in Texas, for example, might prefer to swap out 

some of the long-sleeve tops within a buy plan assortment with 

more short-sleeve tops, and while each G plan initially contains 

garments from all four Gramicci collections, a retailer that may 

be near a college campus can increase the number of garments 

from the Gramicci Life or Greenicci collections. 

Granted, opting into one of the Gramicci buy plans require 

buyers to place a good deal of trust in Gramicci’s designers and 

merchandisers, possibly reducing the input of any local market 

expertise and instinct. On the other hand, partners in the VMM 

platform benefit from Gramicci’s 25 years of design expertise, 

market research and intelligence. 

Gramicci also maintains a network of about a dozen retailers 

across the country, ranging from single-store operations to 

national chains, from which the company collects sell-through 

data twice a month, says Kaseta. “It gives us an idea of what 

is moving, what styles are selling and what colors are selling in 

what markets.” 

That data, likewise, can be applied to modifying and updating 

Gramicci’s buy plans. 

And more information, in turn, makes any decision-making 

process that much simpler, “and more accurate,” adds Kaseta. 

“If we can provide that information and help our retailers 

improve their sell through, as well as their margin and their confidence 

in Gramicci,” he continues, “that’s only going to benefit 

them, and us, as well.” 


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Back Office 

On the Records 

Remaining safely behind the corporate veil 

by Phil Josephson 

Corporation: An ingenious device for obtaining profit without 

individual responsibility. ~Ambrose Bierce 

PCV Equipment LLC and its members are sued for breach of 

a distribution agreement, and the court finds against PCV and its 

members. Outdoor Advanced Company fails to get the capital 

infusion it desperately needed. U.S. Outfitters & Marine Corp. 

comes out on the wrong end of an Internal Revenue Service 

audit, and the company and its shareholders have to restate 

financials and pay penalties. The planned acquisition of HighKing 

Systems is postponed, and the acquisition price is reduced. 

What do all of these entities and scenarios have in common? 

In each case, the entities and their shareholders/members 

failed to follow corporate formalities and failed to keep proper 

and thorough corporate records. 

Business owners choose to get into business and choose 

an entity form that suits their situation. The primary concern to 

the business owners in choosing the entity form is typically the 

protection from risks that a growing business may face. The key 

to this protection, however, is in maintaining the independent 

existence of that entity going forward. Failure to treat the entity 

properly and as an independent entity will erode the shield afforded 

by the entity, and personal liability can ensue. Thus, in order for 

any entity to preserve its special, limited liability status, it must 

observe certain formalities and take certain actions. Formalities 

include (minimally) the issuance of ownership certificates, 

electing officers and directors, following the company bylaws/ 

operating agreement, maintaining proper corporate records and 

keeping corporate and personal funds clearly separate. If these 

formalities are not followed, the entity and its limited liability 

status are vulnerable to attack. Here are some examples. 

Piercing the Veil 

Company shareholders/members generally are insulated 

from personal liability for the company’s debts. This limited 

liability is known as the “corporate veil.” But the veil is not an 

absolute shield. In some cases, a court may pierce the veil and 

hold a shareholder/member personally liable. Piercing is most 

commonly done when a company is the shareholders’ “alter 

ego” or is used to evade creditors. 

In our hypothetical example above, PCV Equipment failed to 

observe corporate formalities and the court found that the members 

were treating the entity as another pocket. Thus, the corporate veil 

is pierced, and the three members are held responsible for the 

breach and associated damages. To paraphrase a leading authority, 

if the shareholders/members or the company disregards the legal 

separation or proper formalities of the company existence, then 

the law will likewise disregard them. 

Growth Plans 

Outdoor Advanced Company needed a capital infusion to 

help with some upcoming cash flow issues that they anticipated. 

The company was not “in trouble” but certainly needed the 

additional cash in order to pursue growth plans. Though OAC 

had a good relationship with its lenders, the company was 

unable to produce certain minutes and resolutions during the 

standard due diligence process. The lenders viewed this not 

as an “oversight” but rather an egregious failure to operate an 

entity. OAC subsequently received lending but months later 

from a different, less-friendly source. 

Audit 

Pursuant to a routine audit, the Internal Revenue Service 

came calling to Outdoor & Marine Corp. and its handful of 

shareholders. Outdoor & Marine Corp. was unable to timely 

produce necessary corporate records, was unable to show 

that it was following company bylaws and was unable to show 

loan documentation with certain shareholders. As a result, the 

IRS forced the shareholders and the company to restate their 

financial position and prior tax returns. 

Exit Strategies 

The owners of HighKing Systems were thrilled to 

have a suitor interested in acquiring the company. 

The owners stood to profit handsomely from the transaction 

based upon the offer price in the letter of intent. 

During due diligence, however, the potential acquirer found 

discrepancies in the corporate records and associated 

capitalization ledger. This led to distrust, months of follow 

up and a renegotiation of the purchase price. The transaction 

Protecting the Company and the Veil 

Document capital infusions 

Prepare annual minutes for meetings of shareholders/members and directors 

Adopt resolutions reflecting approval of all major company actions 

File annual statements and pay necessary fees 

Make sure the entity’s structure is correctly documented and well documented 

Maintain thorough and accurate corporate records 

Properly hold and document shareholder/member meetings 

Properly hold and document director/manager meetings 

Properly hold and document special meetings of directors and of shareholders/ 

members 

Follow the bylaw/operating agreement 

Document loans between the company and shareholders/members 


Back Office 

was subsequently contemplated but at a lower price than 

the owners anticipated. 

Record Breaking 

The maintenance of proper and thorough corporate 

records is vital to the ongoing existence of the company. The 

corporate records provide a historic road map of the company 

for anyone that may review the records in the future. This 

does not mean that a company must have a written record 

of each trip to Office Depot. But, for transactions outside the 

ordinary course of business or those that enable the company 

to be in business, appropriate documents should be in the 

corporate records. 

Rule of thumb: document anything for which you do not 

want someone held personally liable. The corporate veil is only 

as thick as the corporate record book. 

Keeping corporate records should not be painstaking, and 

thus it is hard to conceive that the hypothetical scenarios above 

occur each day. First, actually hold all meetings called for by 

the bylaws/operating agreement. For all of those meetings, 

be sure to send out notices as prescribed for in the bylaws/ 

operating agreement. Second, create succinct minutes of 

meetings, not a scroll of everyone’s thoughts. Finally, execute 

and file all appropriate notices, proxies, minutes, resolutions 

and amendments. 

Proper and thorough corporate records are essential, and 

the failure to maintain these records can be detrimental to the 

company and its owners, as illustrated above. But maintaining 

corporate records should not be a chore. Rather, think of 

proper and thorough corporate records as the foundation for 

the company’s existence. 

At anytime, you (or anyone) should be able to look at the 

corporate record book for a historic roadmap of key decisions 

made and the reasons for those decisions. In addition, the 

corporate record book should also provide a snapshot of the 

company’s legal, financial and capitalization health, which 

will place the company in an advantageous position as you 

present yourself before providers of capital and exits. 

Philip Josephson is the founder of the Law Office of Philip 

Josephson. Philip and the firm deliver corporate legal and 

business advisory services to clients throughout North America. 

Philip holds a J.D. from the University of Miami, a M.B.A. from 

Columbia University; is a member of the Florida Bar, the Arizona 

Bar, and the Federal Communications Bar; and may be contacted 

at pjosephson@josephson-law.com. 

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Greensheets 

Carbon Footprint 101 

Part II: Preparing for a Life Cycle Assessment 

by Ernest Shiwanov 

In the last issue of Inside Outdoor (Winter 2008), we 

covered the concept of carbon footprint and the tools used 

to make that assessment (IO archives can be found at www. 

insideoutdoor.com). Part II will cover what you probably will be 

looking at in terms of dollars and time for your operation’s life 

cycle assessment (LCA). 

The good news is technological advances and recent 

revisions in process LCAs and Economic Input Output LCAs 

(EIO-LCAs) have made the process viable for just about any 

level of business. Your LCA professional will guide you through 

an evaluation of your business so you will know what level 

of assessment would be appropriate. What follows is a brief 

refresher on the LCAs and basic information on some of the 

companies that are providing this service. 

Let us begin by reviewing the three basic methods of 

LCAs: 

1. For process LCA or bottom-up LCA, ISO (International 

Standards Organization) 14040-2006 and 14044-2006 is the 

methodology. 

2. Economic Input Output LCA (EIO-LCA) or top-down LCA is 

based on the work of W. Leontief. It uses a general equilibrium 

model that makes a simplified assumption regarding the 

output of goods in a commodity sector and its proportional 

relationships to other sectors. More and more, EIO-LCA 

service providers are incorporating process LCA elements 

into their analysis, if appropriate, for their clients. 

3. Hybrid LCA, like the car that uses both gasoline and electricity, 

runs on process LCA and EIO-LCA methodologies. 

Process LCA 

Five Winds International director John Heckman says that 

Five Winds has done ISO 14040 conforming studies for under 

$10,000 and in less than 30 days. He is quick to point out that 

Five Winds also has undertaken studies that last several years 

at cost commensurate with the commitment. Every business is 

unique, so you can assume that your business probably will be 

somewhere in between those two sets of circumstances. 

As far as the nuts and bolts go, Heckman explains that the 

starting point for an ISO 14040 study is the “goal and scope” 

definition meeting with the client. He suggests if you want to see 

what you need to prepare for an LCA, read ISO 14040 and 14044. 

As it turns out, ISO 14040 and 14044 were simplified in 2006 to 

make the standard more user friendly, cutting the amount of pages 

nearly in half, resulting in ISO 14040-2006 and 14044-2006. 

Heckman likens the standards to accounting rules for 

mapping “all material and energy flows from cradle to end-oflife. 

It’s very analogous to financial accounting, really.” 

He goes on to say that the World Resources Institute (WRI) 

and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development 

(WBCSD) and ISO 14064.1-3 are on the same page in bringing 

about carbon dioxide measurements. In fact, a quick check 

revealed that ISO, WRI and WBCSD elected to jointly promote 

both the ISO standards 14064 and WRI’s and WBCSD’s 

GHG Protocol Initiative (GHG = greenhouse gas). Their first 

promotional event was held at the UN Climate change meeting 

last year in Bali. 

On the differences between process LCAs and EIO- 

LCAs, Heckman uses an analogy of a magnifying glass and a 

microscope, “both being useful tools to a researcher.” However, 

if you require the actual environmental impact analysis for the life 

cycle of materials and their energy flow, and have the money to 

do a complete study, process LCA is the most appropriate tool. 

“There is no substitute for actual data,” he says. 

Conscious Brands’ experience, meanwhile, lies in the organic 

food and beverage industry. Guayaki (yerba matte tea, etc.) and 

Manitoba Harvest are just two of Conscious Brands’ clients. 

Rob Sinclair and Oliver Ferrari are the principle consultants that 

have partnered with Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol 

Initiative, see above), Zerofootprint and ISO 14040 in bringing 

carbon mitigation strategies to their clients. A typical study will 

take at least six months and cost around $10,000. 

However, it is worth mentioning that both Sinclair and 

Ferrari are on steering committees involved in the Carbon 

Trust-sponsored British Standards Institution Publicly Available 

Specification 2050 or BSI PAS 2050 standard. 

According to the Carbon Trust Web site, “The PAS aims 

to bridge the gap between the existing detailed (process 

LCAs) and more general approaches (EIO-LCAs) and provide a 

standardised, consistent method organisations can practically 

use for measuring the GHG emissions embodied in products 

and services.” The PAS 2050 standard has an egalitarian “for 

the people, by the people” foundation, as Sinclair explains. It 

was developed with the help of many businesses, industries 

and thousands of individuals. 

Despite this emerging hybrid LCA standard, Sinclair and 

Ferrari feel there is a disconnect between the organic foods 

consumers buy and the way carbon numbers relate to them. 

For that reason, during the next six to 12 months, they will 

be working on a method for taking the numbers derived from 

the various assessment tools to the “next step.” That is a way 

for consumers to get their hands around the meaning of GHG 

mitigation. This effort will be represented in a scheme called 

www.carbonlabels.org, a joint project by Conscious Brand’s 

Sinclair and Ferrari and Zerofootprint. This initiative goes beyond 


Greensheets 

the scope of this article but is worth the time to see what is 

happening right here in North America. Stay tuned. 

Rebecca Graham of Scientific Certification Systems says her 

company has various certifications to document environmental 

performance. Clients can have a “single attribute claim” study 

performed for just recycled and reclaimed content or can take 

it a step further and go through an Environmentally Preferable 

Product (EPP) certification. The latter is oriented toward product 

or products in a company’s range that have environmental 

advantages over their competitors in the marketplace. For 

instance, you may have an EPP certification done on day packs 

from your environmentally friendly product line in order to 

distinguish them from similar products by your competitors. 

SCS’s most comprehensive analysis is its full Lifecycle 

Assessment and Environmental Performance Declaration 

(EPD), “for companies that want to know the full environmental 

effects of the processes and products they offer,” say company 

executives. The cost to start with Phase 1, the scope definition, 

is $5,000. You actually can initiate the process online and pay 

with PayPal. 

SCS will send a representative to your company for a day 

to train key personnel in life cycle principles and data inventory 

requirements necessary for Phase 2 of the EPD. Since every 

company is different, and SCS’s comprehensiveness is based 

on the complexity of the study, the total cost is determined 

after the scope definition for Phase 2 is complete. Time to 

completion of the EPD is based on the intricacies of the study. 

EIO-LCA and Hybrid LCA 

Climate Earth’s co-founder Chris Erickson saw a major vacuum 

in the LCA industry. He believes that most methods require 

“detailed low-level analysis,” can take many months to accomplish, 

are expensive and still do not provide a “total enterprise view.” 

Therefore, he and his team have developed a threepronged 

approach to obtaining carbon reduction strategies 

using a hybrid method. 

The company’s Revenue Based Assessment (RBA) is its 

most inexpensive carbon footprint assessment that analyzes “the 

enterprise’s footprint, from cradle to consumer.” The client supplies 

company product revenue figures and country of origin data. 

Climate Earth returns, according to its Web site, an executive-level 

evaluation of the business’s carbon “footprint by product category 

and major supply chain function.” The RBA provides a baseline for 

a company’s sources of CO2 emissions and is usually completed 

in a week for $2,295 for up to five product categories. Additional 

standard product categories can be added for $200 each. Custom 

product categories can be added for $400 each. 

The next step up from Climate Earth is its Expense Based 

Assessment or EBA. This report can be generated in about 

10 days for $5,995. Here, the EBA adds a more thorough 

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Greensheets 

representation of the client’s business, including cost structure 

to the RBA’s baseline. Obviously, with a more comprehensive 

understanding of the business, the goals and feedback on 

carbon footprint are more precise. 

An extension of the EBA is the Mitigation Assessment (MA). The 

MA quantifies specific mitigation targets that are, in turn, integrated 

into the EBA. Contact Climate Earth for details on this service. 

Elsewhere, Climate Cooler’s Michel Gelobter is soon to be 

on a DVD near you. As one of the experts in The 11th Hour, a 

global warming documentary narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio, 

Gelobter has had a lifelong academic and activist commitment 

to the environment. With his Cooler Complete, he has come 

up with a scalable solution for retailers and manufacturers 

committed to becoming carbon neutral. 

Since he offers a hybrid approach, the time to complete a 

study varies with the depth of the analysis. The costs vary as 

well, with “an average of 0.05 to 0.3 percent of a product’s retail 

price for its service,” he explains. To initiate the work, you will 

need the price of the product, weight and country of origin. 

Climate Cooler also has an e-commerce Web site called 

Cooler. Cooler makes it easy to allow consumers to eliminate 

greenhouse gases attributed to purchases made on the site. 

The consumer has thousands of goods or services to choose 

from by many manufacturers or retailers, such as REI, Target 

and Sony. Once the online purchase has been made, the 

participating manufacturer or retailer pays Cooler. Then Cooler, 

through carbon offset partners, obviates the global warming 

impact of what was sold in 30 days or less. 

The above sampling of LCA providers are part a growing 

number of organizations that can help a retail or manufacturing 

business get on the carbon-neutral highway. Do your homework 

before you commit to a firm, and make sure your products or 

services complement the provider’s area of expertise. 

As carbon mitigation standards and verification strategies 

evolve, the LCA industry will become more standardized 

and precise. During the next several years, scientific and 

technological advances will continue to shape the way we deal 

with GHG emissions. 

Unfortunately, as a civilization, we have little time to dwell 

on the coming changes in the LCA standards. 

Sources and Contacts 

www.climatecooler.com 

www.climateearth.com 

www.consciousbrands.com 

www.carbonlabels.org 

www.zerofootprint.net 

www.fivewinds.com 

www.scscertified.com 

www.sylvatica.com 

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Green Sheets 

The Green Glossary 

by Ernest Shiwanov 

Buzz words like sustainability, compostable 

and cradle-to-grave are regularly 

bandied about by authorities and spinmeisters. 

Many use terms interchangeably 

or incorrectly. So Inside Outdoor decided 

to parse the greenwash lexicon and take 

a stab at a short glossary of definitions. 

The following definitions are as organic 

as the topics they address. They are more 

operative than definitive, with the underlying 

subtext being about the discourse that 

we hope to continue. Indeed, these definitions 

are “alive,” and we expect them 

to evolve as new standards are set, technologies 

are developed and our industry 

grapples with the “sustainability” (see below) 

of our businesses. A la Wikipedia, we 

welcome anyone who would like to add, 

change or modify definitions to submit 

their insight to ernest@bekapublishing. 

com. The Green Glossary will continue to 

appear in future issues of IO. 

Biodegradable 

Aerobic decomposition of a organic 

matter through the action of microorganisms 

or aerobes. There are no standards 

for eco-toxicity or length of time before 

degrading to biomass and, in some cases, 

eco-toxins. 

Cap and Trade 

See Emissions Trading. 

Carbon Neutral 

or Carbon Offset 

To offset or neutralize net greenhouse 

gas emissions. 

This can be achieved by planting trees, 

using renewable energy, energy conservation 

and emissions trading. Critics contend 

there is no definitive evidence that carbon 

offsets work since there are no models 

or standards that clearly demonstrate 

the equilibrium. 

Compostable 

The biodegradability of an organic material, 

mostly to biomass, water and carbon 

dioxide. Compostable environments 

include industrial settings and common 

garden or open space locations. All standards 

agree on a six-month period for the 

organic matter to degrade. Most standards 

support these tests: 

• Does it biodegrade to carbon dioxide, 

water, biomass at the rate paper biodegrades? 

• Does the material disintegrate leaving 

no distinguishable or visible residue? 

• Are there any eco-toxic materials left, 

and can the remaining biomass support 

plant growth? 

American Society for Testing and 

Materials (ASTM) D6400-99 says to 

be considered compostable, materials 

must undergo degradation by biological 

processes during composting to yield 

carbon dioxide (CO2), water, inorganic 

compounds and biomass at a rate consistent 

with other compostable materials, 

leaving no visible, distinguishable 

or toxic residue. 

The EN (European Committee for 

Standardization or Comité Européen de 

Normalisation) standard is even more 

specific. EN13432 states that a material is 

deemed compostable if it will breakdown 

to the extent of at least 90 percent to H2O 

and CO2 and biomass within six months. 

There are other standards as well with 

DIN V49000 from the German Institute 

for Standardization being the strictest 

in the allowance of heavy metals. Many 

might be familiar with DIN standards for 

their safe release ski bindings. 

Cradle-to-cradle 

The life cycle of a product from manufacture 

to re-manufacture. 


Cradle-to-gate 

The life cycle of a product or process 

from manufacture to end-user. Also 

known as environmental product declarations 

(EPD). 

Cradle-to-grave 


to end-of-use disposal. 

Degradable 

A material that undergoes chemical 

change and a loss of original characteristics 

due to environmental conditions. 

There are no requirements for time, process 

or toxicity for this method. 

Emissions Trading 

A practice in which businesses are 

given an emissions cap, in the form of 

credits, that allows them to pollute up to 

a maximum credit level. Businesses that 

exceed their cap must purchase (or trade) 

credits from a company that has not exceeded 

its cap. 

Some problems with the Cap and 

Trade concept include where to set the 

initial levels of the caps, retiring old credits, 

resetting caps, and regulatory/compliance 

standards. 

Environmental Product 

Declarations (EPD) 


to end-user. Also know as cradleto-gate. 

Gate-to-grave 

The life cycle of a product from the 

end-user to end-of-use disposal. 

Life cycle assessment (LCA) 

A comprehensive assessment of the 

impact of a product or process, from 

inception to the end of its “life.” The assessment 

includes transportation of raw 

materials to the manufacturer, manufacturing 

of materials, transportation of 

materials to the product manufacturer, 

manufacturing of product, transportation 

of product to end-users, impact of product 

by end-user and disposal of product 

by end-user. 

The assessment has been used as a 

tool to evaluate a product’s or company’s 

eco-performance, which in turn can be 

used to improve it. 

Life Cycle Management (LCM) 

An integrated approach to sustainable 

production and consumption through the 

management of a product’s or process’ 

life cycle. 

Life Cycle Energy 

Analysis (LCEA) 

The total life cycle energy input. Criticism 

in utilizing LCEAs include the argument 

that different energy sources have 

different potential value (exergy). Additionally, 

critics contend that LCEAs’ energy 

currency cannot supplant economic 

currency as the determinant in business. 

Organic 

In textile technology, organic refers to 

standards ensuring sustainable practices 

during all phases of fiber production. 

Beginning with every aspect of cultivation 

under the National Organic Program 

(NOP) guidelines, post-harvest wet processes 

such as dying and bleaching, textile 

fabrication, manufacturing of goods, 

transportation, worker environment, 

labeling/compliance, packaging, exportation 

and importation are comprehensively 

addressed. 

Presently, there are no processing 

standards for organic fibers from the U.S. 

federal government beyond cultivation 

ending with the consumer. 


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For standards related to organic food, 

please see: http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/ 

indexIE.htm. 

Oxo-biodegradation 

A two-step process that begins with 

degradation by oxidation, followed by biodegradation. 

A variation of this developed for polymers, 

such as polyethylene, add a degradability 

component during the material’s manufacturing. 

The added component allows 

the polymer to thermo- (heat), photo- (light), 

or hydro- (water) degrade within 90 days in a 

commercial composting environment. 

It is purported that in non-commercial 

composting environments, the biodegradation 

will take place but at a much 

slower rate. 

RoHS 

An acronym for Restriction of Hazardous 

Substances Directive (the lead-free 

directive). 

Although not a law, the European Union 

passed this directive in 2006, limiting the 

use of six materials in any part of electronic 

and electrical products. The six materials 

limited by RoHS are: lead, mercury, cadmium, 

hexavalent chromium (chromium VI or 

Cr6+), polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and 

polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE). 

PBB and PBDE are flame retardants used in 

some plastics. 

Similar standards have been adopted 

in China, Japan, Korea and California. The 

U.S. federal government currently has no 

plans to adopt a similar directive. 

Recycling 

The U.S. Department of Energy defines 

recycling as “the process of converting 

materials that are no longer useful as designed 

or intended into a new product.” 

Renewable Energy 

The U.S. Department of Energy defines 

renewable energy as “energy derived from 

resources that are regenerative or for all 

practical purposes cannot be depleted. 

“Types of renewable energy resources 

include moving water (hydro, tidal and 

wave power), thermal gradients in ocean 

water, biomass, geothermal energy, solar 

energy and wind energy. 

“Municipal solid waste (MSW) is 

also considered to be a renewable energy 

resource.” 

Sustainable development 

Economic, social (political) and environmental 

development that is harmonized 

for the good of all interests. 

Many, including the United Nations, 

use the definition from the Brundtland 

Report Our Common Future that “sustainable 

development is development that 

meets the needs of the present without 

compromising the ability of future generations 

to meet their own needs.” 

Others contend that this is not an operational 

definition and that the concept 

is best defined as “a socio-ecological process 

characterized by ideal-seeking behavior 

on the part of its human component,” 

which is adapted from the work of Russell 

Ackoff and Fred Emery, among others. 

Nevertheless, there are some that consider 

the phrase a greenwash oxymoron. To many, 

the concept of growth and depleting nonrenewable 

resources are mutually exclusive. 

Zero Waste 

An approach to the cradle-to-cradle 

concept that includes reduction of product 

or process waste and consumption, 

plus advancing the notion of reuse, repair 

or return to the environment. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IO is Back Online 

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Advertising Opportunities 

480.503.0770 


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CORRESPONDENCE 

Send letters to the editor via email to Martin Vilaboy at martin@bekapublishing.com. 

All other correspondence should be directed to INSIDE OUTDOOR 745 N. Gilbert 

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